The murder of her fiancé by a philosophy student who “lost her temper” and ran him over has been proven.

Alice Wood, 23, hit partner Ryan Watson, 24, with her Ford Fiesta near their Rode Heath, Cheshire, home at around 11.30pm on May 6 last year.

Wood claimed her boyfriend’s death was a “tragic accident” and denied murder and manslaughter.

She said at her Chester Crown Court trial that she did not know he was under her car when she drove 158 metres along Sandbach Road before stopping.

Wood was emotionless as the jury delivered its unanimous verdict in less than eight hours.

Judge Michael Leeming kept her in custody and said she “may never be released”.

He said: “The murder of Ryan Watson is your crime. The only sentence the law permits for this is life imprisonment.

“I need to determine the minimum period you must spend in custody before the Parole Board considers if you are safe to release.

“You might never be released. The Parole Board has the final say.”

Wood lowered her eyes as she left the dock.

January 29 is the date of her sentencing.

The trial lasted three weeks and heard that the couple, who got engaged six months after starting a relationship in March 2020, went to a party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, with staff and service users from Headway, the brain injury charity where Mr Watson worked as a support worker.

Prosecutor Andrew Ford KC said CCTV footage showed Mr Watson “being a gregarious and outgoing party guest who had a good time”, while one woman who was there said Wood was “a bit cold”.

Tiffany Ferriday, another party guest, said in court that she and Mr Watson had “connected” and Wood was “largely ignored” in the conversation.

Wood said in court that she drove Mr Watson home from the party in his car, even though she knew she was drunk, and he “snapped” and accused her of flirting with other men.

She told the court about an argument that went on when they got back to their Oak Street house and Mr Watson grabbed her hair extensions and pushed her head over the oven hob.

She said she left to her car to go but Mr Watson followed and they kept arguing as he stood outside the car.

CCTV showed her car reversing, hitting Mr Watson’s car, a bin and a bollard.

The footage showed the car reversing into Sandbach Road as Mr Watson walked away, but then it veered off the road towards him.

Prosecutor Mr Ford said in his opening that “she lost her temper” and “used the car as a weapon”.

Wood told the court she had intended to “scare” Mr Watson because he had threatened her mother but planned to stop short of him and was “shocked” when she saw him on the bonnet of the car.

The CCTV showed the car reverse and then move forward, hitting Mr Watson a second time and knocking him underneath the car before driving away.

The court heard Wood was preparing for final exams in a theology, philosophy and ethics degree at the time and had since been awarded the degree based on the material she had already produced.

She had a scholarship for a part-time research masters at Cambridge, the jury was told.

On the first day of the trial, she had a copy of the book Meditations, a philosophy text by Roman Marcus Aurelius, under her arm as she was led in handcuffs from the prison van to the court.

In tears during much of her evidence, Wood said she had stopped the car and got out after travelling a short distance down the road because she felt it was not accelerating properly.

She said: “It was a nightmare to see Ryan under the car.

“It was hellish, It felt unreal.”

The court was told she then went to a nearby house and asked residents: “Please call an ambulance. I think I’ve run over my boyfriend.”

She was taken into custody by police after being arrested for murder, and she said to an officer: “It’s okay, I deserve it.”

Mr Watson’s family said in a statement that it was “very hard” to watch the CCTV footage in court of when he died under the car.

They said: “The person who Ryan trusted the most is the person who killed him in such a brutal way.

“Alice is in jail where she should be but no sentence is enough for what she has taken from us and Ryan. He’ll never have a chance to live his life and achieve his dreams.