Toddler’s mum ‘doing drugs, drinking more in relationship’ – court
AMOTHER accused of allowing her boyfriend to murder her two-year-old daughter told police she began taking drugs and drinking more during their relationship.
Lola James suffered more than 100 injuries at her home in Haverfordwest on July 17, 2020, and died four days later at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff.
Lola’s mother, 29-year-old Sinead James, of Neyland, is charged with causing or allowing the death of the toddler, and 30-year-old Kyle Bevan, of Aberystwyth, is charged with murder. Both defendants deny the charges.
Yesterday, James’ police interviews were read out to the court – in which she spoke about taking amphetamine during her relationship with Bevan.
When asked if this was a one-off, she said: “No, he done it a few times when (Lola) wasn’t around, I wouldn’t allow it in front of (Lola).”
She said he would take it once a week. And when asked if she took amphetamine, James said: “Yeah I did, not on that day, I didn’t do it as much as him... It would make me awake and make me sick a few times.”
The defendant said she had amphetamine a week or two before Lola was injured, when she didn’t have Lola. She said Bevan smoked weed in the garden every day and it would calm him down.
She said: “He just keeps going on that he needs it.”
James described an incident when Bevan went “off his head” on Xanax.
She said: “He hit my light-switch with a hammer and was punching the walls and sofa. He was like possessed on it.”
She said there was another incident when Bevan took Xanax.
The defendant added: “He was in my face so I pushed him out the way and got (Lola) out of my house.”
James said she would not consume drugs and alcohol together, but once did it with amphetamine and didn’t like it. She was asked if she thought Bevan’s drug taking was an issue.
James said: “When I look at it now I do but (Lola) wasn’t there.”
The interviewing officer asked: “Did the drugs escalate?”
James said: “I used to drink more, I never used to take drugs at all until I got with Kyle.
“I was dead against drugs and didn’t drink as much as I was with Kyle.”
When asked why she drank more, she said: “I don’t know, peer pressure, because he was drinking and I thought I may as well drink with him.”
James was asked again about the aftermath of the Xanax incident.
She said: “I was going to go back to the house and get him out.
“He was apologetic, I was like, ‘You can’t keep on and doing that no more, it scared (Lola).
“It’s not fair on (her), it’s (her) home’ and he was like it wouldn’t happen again.”
The officer said: “Why didn’t you say ‘you need to get out, go to your dad’s or mum’s’?”
James said: “I was scared, I was scared. I thought he was going to hit me. I thought he was going to do something.
“That’s what I am used to with men. I thought he would come back and keep coming back so I thought it was just best to leave it.”
The officer asked: “Your fear is from previous incidents, not incidents with Kyle?”
James said: “Yeah.”
She was asked about how she felt about Bevan at this time. The defendant said: “I started to get more and more anxious but was too scared to get him out of the house.
“Him smashing up my house and if he’s capable of doing that, what could he have done to me? If I asked him to get out, it would be in front of Lola…”
James was also asked what she had done to protect Lola.
She said: “I never thought she was in major danger. I never thought he would hurt my child.” James was also asked about the Freedom programme, which helps people to recognise the perpetrators of domestic abuse.
She said: “They don’t explain that people tend to be nice at first and there are different ways of working it.”
The trial continues.