LITTLE LOLA KILLED BY ‘JEKYLL AND HYDE’ AFTER HE SAID HE’D PROTECT HER
LOLA JAMES was a “beautiful, bright, busy” little girl – a bundle of energy who was always on the go. She was just a few months shy of her third birthday when she was brutally murdered by her mother’s new partner.
Her killer, Kyle Bevan, had been part of the family for a matter of months when he subjected her to an almost unimaginable level of violence which caused catastrophic brain injuries and left her body covered in more than 100 bruises, puncture wounds and abrasions.
What happened in the early hours of July 17, 2020, may never be known – her killer told a pack of lies about the toddler accidentally falling down the stairs while her mother, Sinead James, was asleep upstairs.
Bevan and James met in February 2020 when he made a friend request to her on Facebook. After exchanging messages they met in person and a few weeks later Bevan moved into the family home in Haverfordwest. They hardly knew each other but James had just come out of a violent and abusive relationship. Bevan said he was “not like the others” and said he would protect her and her family.
Though it appears there were good times in the couple’s relationship – especially in the early days – there were frequent raging rows, many conducted via text or Facebook from different rooms of the house.
Bevan abused drugs including cannabis, amphetamine and Xanax, as well as alcohol, and was unpredictable and prone to outbursts of anger especially when high or intoxicated.
He was described in court has a “Jekyll and Hyde” character. On one occasion he grabbed a hammer and smashed up the house after taking a cocktail of Xanax and alcohol, forcing James to flee to a friend’s house with Lola. He later apologised.
Then one day James received a “mother to mother” text from the mum of a former partner of Bevan raising concerns about his suitability to be around children. James showed the message to Bevan and his mother who assured her it was nonsense.
The relationship continued.
The trial heard details of an occasion when James was out and Bevan was looking after Lola when the toddler suffered nasty bruising to her nose and under her eyes – Bevan said the family dog had knocked Lola off the sofa and into the coffee table. James, it seemed, accepted that explanation.
At the trial at Swansea Crown Court the prosecution said Bevan’s behaviour should have been ringing alarm bells for James, especially as she had first-hand experience of previous domestic abuse and had received help and support in recognising the signs. She had also been warned about the risks of introducing adults into the family home. But it seems James could not – or perhaps did not want to – see the signs.
For her part James described herself as being “like a little sheep that goes and does what I’m told because I am petrified of confrontation”.
Though she initially said Bevan was “amazing” with her and Lola, she was subsequently to say she was scared of her new partner to the point where she would sit in another room rocking to and forth. She said he belittled and humiliated her, and made her feel “worthless”.
But James did not tell her health visitor nor her domestic violence officer that Bevan was living in the family house, and did not seek help from the authorities or from her family and friends. She said she had no idea that Bevan would cause harm to Lola.
On the available evidence it seems the week before Lola’s murder was “calm” in the Princess Royal Way house where the family lived. On July 16, 2020, James took Lola to a nearby park where they spent a couple of hours with James’ aunty and her children before returning home.
James went to bed at around 9pm to watch YouTube clips, leaving Bevan and Lola playing downstairs. James was woken around midnight by a bang and scream and went to Lola’s bedroom to find Bevan and the toddler sitting at the foot of the bed. He said Lola had bumped her head but he would take care of it. At that stage there were no marks on Lola, and her mother said she seemed fine. James went back to bed.
What led to the murderous assault on Lola which followed in the early hours of July 17 is unknown but by 6.30am the child was gravely ill – unconscious and battered black and blue.
The fact James, by her own testimony a light sleeper who would wake at the “slightest noise”, slept through the attack suggests Lola was rendered unconscious and unable to scream for help.
The trial heard violent shaking and possibly a blow to the head were the likely mechanisms – what is known as “abusive head trauma”.
Medics later recorded more than 100 bruises and abrasions all over her head, arms, legs and body from bleeding in the ears to bruises on her
feet. The pattern of linear bruises on her right thigh suggested some kind of weapon had been used. Nobody was able to explain what might have caused a strange injury on her forehead: three bruises and puncture wounds in a triangular pattern. If Lola had been conscious when the beatings were administered, the court was told, she would have been in pain and would surely have made a noise – the fact no screams were heard leads to the chilling conclusion that her little body was battered while she was unconscious.
Bevan did not seek medical help for Lola nor wake James. He spent almost an hour making Google searches about a child banging its head and going “limp”, and sending messages to his mother – it was his mum who would eventually dial 999 and request an ambulance – and took pictures and even a video of the gravely injured child.
It wasn’t until 7.20am that Bevan woke James to tell her her daughter had fallen down the stairs. James found her little girl, her face and lips swollen and bruised, lying unconscious on the sofa in the living room.
At the trial the prosecution said Bevan used that hour to concoct his story about how Lola came by her injuries, and possibly to try to wash away the evidence – police recovered a wet and vomit-stained Frozen onesie which had been hidden in the living room, and found the bathroom appeared to have been very recently cleaned in contrast to the rest of the house which was cluttered and untidy.
Lola was rushed first to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest before being taken to the University Hospital of
Wales in Cardiff but she had suffered catastrophic brain injuries and could not be saved. She died four days later. She was two years and nine months old.
Bevan’s explanation for the injuries was that Lola had fallen down the stairs after being knocked over by the family dog, an American pit bull type dog called Jessie. He claimed he had been in the kitchen getting a bowl of cereal for the toddler when he heard three bangs and found her lying at the bottom of the stairs screaming and writhing. He claimed he had then done everything he could to keep her alive. But then he became obstructive and aggressive with medical staff and police. He would later text James asking her what she was going to tell the police.
Bevan was charged with murder, while James was charged with causing or allowing the death of a child. Despite protesting his innocence during repeated police interviews, Bevan refused to give evidence at the trial.
The prosecution branded him a “bully and coward” who didn’t have the guts to look jurors in the eyes and answer questions.
James did give evidence, and told the jury she had no idea that Bevan was capable of causing her daughter serious harm, saying if she had thought such a thing she would have got him out of the house. The prosecution said she had failed her daughter, and had prioritised her relationship with her partner over the welfare and safety of her daughter.
After deliberating for just under 10 hours over the course of three days the jury found Bevan guilty of murdering Lola, and found James guilty of allowing or causing her death. The pair will be sentenced on April 25.