JAIL FOR LIFE
Killer stepdad gets 28 years for murdering tot aged two
A BRUTAL stepdad has been jailed for life for murdering a two-year-old girl and then filming her as she was dying.
Evil Kyle Bevan, 31, was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years yesterday for the “frenzied and extremely violent attack”.
The self-confessed “spice head” left little Lola James with a catastrophic brain injury and 101 bruises and scratches – then tried to blame the family dog.
Lola’s mum Sinead James, 30, was also jailed for six years for allowing or causing her daughter’s death.
The toddler was attacked while James’s then boyfriend Bevan was alone with her.
Phone records showed Lola became unconscious after the assault in July 2020, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
Drug user Bevan, of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, googled “my two-yearold child has just taken a bang to the head and gone all limp and snoring. What’s wrong?” a trial at Swansea crown court heard.
A disturbing video the killer sent to his mother Alison showed him attempting to stand Lola on her feet before letting her fall to the floor, with him saying: “She’s gone.”
The little girl died days later in hospital. The trial heard her brain injuries were like a car crash victim’s and that Bevan had hurt her previously.
Before Bevan was arrested he tried to get his story straight, messaging James: “What are you going to say?” before she replied, “What you told me.” Bevan responded: “Yeah but obviously you’ve got to get it bang on like.”
Senior Crown prosecutor John Griffiths said yesterday:
“Kyle Bevan described himself as Lola’s ‘stepfather’ but his actions were anything but paternal.
“He had inflicted injuries on Lola in the past. Lola should have been safe in her own home surrounded by people that she could trust.
“Instead, her mother allowed a violent and destructive man into their lives and failed in her duty to protect Lola from harm.
“James was well aware that Bevan was a danger, but she willingly chose to keep him in her life.”
Pembrokeshire county council has launched a child practice review into Lola’s death.
Tracey Holdsworth, of NSPCC Cymru, said: “Lola died because of Kyle Bevan’s brutality and the abject failure of her mother, Sinead James, to protect her.
“The review... must be robust in finding whether more could have been done to protect this little girl and how agencies working together can better prevent future tragedies.”
Lola died because of Kyle Bevan’s brutality
NSPCC CYMRU’S TRACEY
HOLDSWORTH ON DEATH