Ryan Wellings sentencing live: Kiena Dawes' abusive partner being ...

Fiona TrottReporting from Preston Crown Court

Ryan Wellings smiled as he left the dock. In contrast, Kiena’s mother - sitting metres away - showed no emotion at all.

She’s been through so much. Her witness impact statement said that watching her daughter’s "soap opera" life being pulled apart during a six-week trial, had been a trauma in itself.

"Ryan Wellings put me through that," she said.

As Wellings starts his six-and-a-half-year sentence, she and her family will start a new chapter, raising the little girl Kiena left behind.

After today, there are questions for the justice system too as the prosecution said this trial had triggered an important public debate.

Kiena had existing mental health issues and the jury couldn’t agree that Wellings’ abuse was the cause of her death, beyond reasonable doubt.

The Centre for Women’s Justice told us this suggests that vulnerable victims are less likely to get justice.

There are important questions for the police too. Three officers still face misconduct proceedings over how they handled Kiena Dawes’ case.