Poised to begin a prestigious research masters’ degree in theology, philosophy and ethics at Cambridge University, Alice Wood seemed destined for high-achievement.
In spring last year, the then 22-year-old was about to sit the final exams of her undergraduate degree in the same subjects at Manchester University.
The budding academic’s life appeared settled. She and charity worker boyfriend Ryan Watson, 24, had set up home together with their four dogs, buying a modest house in the Cheshire village of Rode Heath for £120,000 in October 2021 with help from their parents.
Horrifically, everything changed on May 6, 2022, when a drunken Wood got behind the wheel of her Ford Fiesta and drove repeatedly at Mr Watson after a late-night row.
A source close to Wood’s family said: ‘She was a very intelligent girl, very clever, and she had a promising future. It’s a terrible waste of a talent but these things happen in life.
‘Everyone’s capable of having a temper, people can just snap. It’s just a tragedy to be honest, it really is, for her and Ryan.’
Alice Wood, 23, mowed down Ryan Watson in a ‘game of chicken’ having lost her temper after watching him ‘click’ with another woman at the event in Stoke
Ryan Watson (pictured) died on May 6, 2022 after a car hit him. Alice Wood was on trial for his murder at Chester Crown Court
Before buying their home in Rode Heath, the couple both grew up in nearby Cheadle, a quiet town on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands, where it is understood they met.
The town is best known for the lavishly-decorated St Giles’s Church, designed by Houses of Parliament architect Augustus Pugin and funded by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who lived nearby at Alton Towers, site of the present-day theme park.
Wood – who has two brothers – had lived with both her mother Deborah Sproston, a doctor’s receptionist, and father Trevor Wood, a furniture maker, who are divorced.
Before she began her undergraduate degree, Wood had part-time jobs in a convenience store and as a waitress in a pub.
In recent years, she had managed to go travelling, with her Facebook account showing a picture of her posing with a small elephant in a jungle setting.
One Cheadle resident said: ‘She was quiet and studious. When she was older, she and her mother would go out to do the pub quiz together. She seemed like she was destined for a good career – for her to be accused of murder is the last thing you’d expect to happen.’
Mr Watson, who worked for brain injury support charity Headway, was described by a Rode Heath resident as ‘kind-hearted and helpful’.
Wood and Mr Watson bought their home in the small Cheshire village of Rode Heath for £120,000 in October 2021
Wood claimed the collision was a tragic accident but a jury at Chester Crown Court today convicted her of murder
Mr Watson, who worked for brain injury support charity Headway, was described by one resident in Rode Heath as ‘kind-hearted and helpful’
Wood had managed to go travelling, with her Facebook account showing a picture of her posing with a small elephant in a jungle setting
Wood had set her sights on a career as a vet
One woman who lives in the village – and witnessed the aftermath of the ‘horrific’ killing after Wood came knocking for help – said: ‘Our landlord knew Ryan and said he was a lovely lad.
‘Everybody thought the world of him. He was kind-hearted and helpful… a really lovely boy. That’s what is so heart breaking.’
But the woman, a shop assistant, revealed that when Wood banged on her door seeking help on the night of the murder, she was already trying to provide her justification for what happened.
Whereas the prosecution said she was angry at Mr Watson for giving attention to other women, she claimed the dispute was for opposite reasons.
The eyewitness recalled: ‘She told us she was upset because she wanted to go back to find her cell phone (and) he (Ryan) thought she was flirting with other men. She never went back for her phone, so she didn’t have a phone on her.’
The resident said she let Wood borrow her phone to try to ring her mother but, in her panicked state, ‘couldn’t remember her mum’s phone number’.
Describing Wood’s demeanour, the woman added: ‘(Wood) was quite distressed, but she wasn’t crying. She said: ‘Please phone for an ambulance. I’ve run over my boyfriend.’ I thought he would be lying by the side of the road in pain, so I went out.
‘He was completely underneath the vehicle, but his head was visible, and his foot was sticking out. I tried to see if he was still conscious but there was no answer. It was quite horrific. We called an ambulance, and they were here in 15 minutes. I was on the phone to them all that time.
Wood drove at her partner twice in her Ford Fiesta before hitting him a third time and trapping him under the front bumper
Upon arrest a sobbing Wood told officers: ‘It’s fine, I deserve it’
The couple are seen drinking and enjoying themselves at a birthday party in Stoke
A source close to Wood’s family said: ‘She was a very intelligent girl, very clever, and she had a promising future’
CCTV footage caught the moment Alice Wood mowed down Ryan Watson in a ‘game of chicken’ having lost her temper after watching him ‘click’ with another woman
‘I really feel for his family. We have two kids of our own… I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind.’
Another Rode Heath resident who went to help at the scene, said: ‘There were drag marks near the car. I’m still trying to figure out how it happened. I’ve never seen an incident like this.
‘The passenger door was open. The engine was cool. He was jammed under the car […] The girl didn’t want to see Ryan… the paramedics wanted her to go outside but she didn’t want to. She was all over the place. We had to support her. She was traumatised but couldn’t walk, whether she was drunk or sober. The police arrived shortly after and arrested her.’
During her three-week trial at Chester Crown Court, Wood appeared smartly-dressed but with tattoos of various symbols visible including Roman numerals on her hands and wrists.
She retained her studious demeanour, reading literature including Meditations, by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius – a leading Stoic philosopher. On other days, she brought what appeared to be academic textbooks into the dock.
But rather than a future in the cloistered world of academia, she now faces a life sentence in some of Britain’s toughest women’s prisons.