Toddler murder-accused ‘angry with doctor treating her’ – court

ACONSULTANT caring for a toddler who was allegedly murdered in a “frenzied” attack has recalled how the accused had become “angry” while giving an account of what happened.

Lola James died in hospital on July 21, 2020, after suffering the kind of brain injuries usually seen in highspeed car crashes or falls from a great height.

Her mother’s boyfriend Kyle Bevan, 31, denies murdering the toddler and claims the little girl died when she was knocked down the stairs by the family’s American Bulldog Jessie.

He is on trial at Swansea Crown Court alongside Lola’s mum Sinead James, 30, who stands accused of “causing or allowing” her daughter’s death at the home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

She denies the charge. Yesterday, the court heard evidence from Dr Nicola Drake, an emergency medicine consultant at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest.

She told the court she was on call the night Lola James was brought in.

She told jurors Bevan claimed he was making cereal in the kitchen when Lola fell down the stairs.

Dr Drake told the court she took notes of his account as he provided it in the hospital. She said he started to become angry and asked whether the information he was giving was confidential, and said the information stays in the room.

“I advised him that it would be shared with external agencies such as social services and that I had a statutory duty, a legal duty, given how serious the injuries were,” Dr Drake said.

“He said: ‘If you take one step out of this room with those notes, I will rip them out of your hand.’”

Earlier on Monday, jurors heard from Lola’s grandmother who told the court she received a phone call from her daughter, defendant Sinead James, at 7.26am on the morning of July 17, 2020. Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC asked “what sort of state” the defendant was in.

“She said: ‘Lola’s fallen down the stairs. You need to get here quick,’” Miss James replied. The witness said she went straight to the address. “I just wanted to see where Lola was. I looked at the house and said it was a mess out loud. The paramedic was stood over Lola so I could not see her.

“He scooped her up and proceeded towards the ambulance. I followed straight away and we went to Withybush Hospital in an ambulance.”

Miss Rees asked how the youngster looked at this point. The witness replied: “Awful. She was purple, wearing her pyjamas, and she was wet.”

Miss James said Bevan’s behaviour was “disrespectful towards paramedics and nurses” and said he was “abrupt”. She said: “He wouldn’t give a statement... He said if they wrote anything down he would snatch it off them and rip it up.”

Miss Rees asked: “What was the tone of his voice like?” Miss James responded: “Angry. Disrespectful. Aggressive.”

Miss James said she last saw her granddaughter Lola on July 4, 2020.

She was asked if she saw any marks on her then.

She responded “no” and said she had closely reviewed photographs but could not see any sign of injuries.

The prosecutor asked Miss James about an occasion when James had a chip to one of her teeth.

The witness said her daughter told her it was caused by a dog jumping up and colliding with her mouth.

She was asked about the week before Lola was admitted to hospital on July 17 and whether she had as much contact with her daughter.

She said: “No. I made a nuisance of myself calling her up about things I saw on TV. I was probably a bit too much for her at times. I lived on my own. It was lockdown.”

Miss James was asked whether the dog had been blamed for any previous incidents.

She responded to say she had never met their dog.

Miss Rees asked Miss James to describe Lola. She said: “She was a cheeky monkey – into everything. She loved the garden and being caked in mud. She just attracted dirt.

“She loved everything. She just loved life. She was just so independent. She was just amazing. A character. She was 100mph like all of them.”

Miss Rees asked: “Did you find her difficult to handle?”

The witness responded: “No. We used to go into the garden first thing in the morning and she ruled the roost. We just had fun times.”

Miss Rees also asked: “Did you get on with Kyle?”

Miss James said: “I didn’t really know him. He acted like the big hardman which he wasn’t.”

Miss Rees then asked about Bevan’s moods, which Miss James said “were up and down”.

She added: “He would be argumentative. His moods were not predictable.”

Earlier in the day the trial heard from neuroradiologist Dr Neil Stoodley who explained an area of bleeding was found in Lola James’ brain between the dura layer, which is closer to the skull and the arachnoid, the next layer down. He confirmed to prosecutor Miss Rees that normally in a healthy person nothing would be found between those two layers.

Miss Rees asked: “In this case you observed something to be present between the dura and the arachnoid. What was that?”

He responded: “Blood and it was recent blood. More acute.”

Asked about his investigation into head trauma, Dr Stoodley said the bleeding and brain injury detected when he examined Lola James was “unequivocally recent”.

He was asked about whether the injuries could have been caused by an accidental fall down the stairs.

He said: “In terms of impact injury that might occur to a child in an impact setting in the home I would not expect to see subdural bleeding as a result of such injuries.

“When we do see it on scans and when we know absolutely what has happened to the child, we would only see a small amount of bleeding at a single site, not at several different sites as was seen on Lola’s scan.”

The doctor said shaking or slaps “could be a possible mechanism” explaining the abnormalities.

Bevan, of Aberystwyth, and James, of Neyland, deny the charges. The trial continues.