Lola James: Couple jailed over toddler's death
The two-year-old died 4 days after being found with a 'catastrophic' head injury
Last updated 25th Apr 2023
A West Wales couple have been jailed following the death of toddler Lola James.
The two-year-old died in hospital in July 2020 - 4 days after being found with a 'catastrophic' head injury at her home in Haverfordwest.
31-year-old Kyle Bevan, from Aberystwyth, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years for Lola's murder.
His partner and Lola's mum Sinead James, 30, was given 6 years for causing for allowing the toddler's death.
Throughout the sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court Kyle Bevan remained expressionless and showed no emotion as he was jailed for life for murdering Lola James.
Lola's mother, Sinead James, was tearful throughout the hearing, particularly at hearing the victim impact statement from her mother, and cried when she was jailed for six years.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Griffiths said: "Lola was a very young child, two years and 10 months old. She was particularly vulnerable, not being strong enough to resist or old enough to tell anyone what was happening. Kyle Bevan was in a position of trust. Having assumed the role, as he described himself to the ambulance crew, of Lola's stepfather.
"He started to hurt Lola at midnight, and he carried on until she was unconscious at 6.30am.
"He did not stop when Sinead James nearly caught him in the act when she heard Lola's scream at midnight.
"This was a sustained, deliberate and very violent attack. The attack was completely unprovoked. There is no suggestion that Lola was playing up in any way before she was killed.
"For some of the injuries, Kyle Bevan used weapons. The attack would have caused both mental and physical pain and suffering before the onset of coma. It was the culmination of several months of physical child abuse.
"An exercise of power"
"I am sure that Kyle Bevan did this as an exercise of power and assertion of superiority over the only person who he could feel superior to, a helpless child."
Over the course of the trial, Swansea Crown Court heard how Lola James was found to have suffered more than 100 bruises and scratches to her body as well as a serious head injury.
Bevan denied murdering the toddler - claiming she'd been hurt by the family dog pushing her down the stairs.
Medical evidence brought by the prosecution concluded Lola's injuries were unlikely to have been caused by a fall down carpeted stairs and were more "consistent with abusive head trauma and physical abuse".
The jury heard Bevan had taken photos and a video of her injuries on his phone and waited an hour before asking his mother to call an ambulance.
Swansea Crown Court was told that when officers arrived at the house they found the bath to be spotlessly clean despite the rest of the property being dirty and cluttered.
Paramedics also noted that Lola was wet, and a wet, vomit and blood-stained onesie was later recovered from a corner of the living room.
Lola's mum Sinead James told Swansea Crown Court she was scared of Bevan saying he'd previously "smashed up" her house whilst high on drugs.
She had also tried to use Clare's Law to look at Kyle Bevan's background and whether there was a history of domestic abuse but told the court he wouldn't give his date of birth.
She told the jury she accepted she'd failed her daughter - but denied causing or allowing her death.
"Lola died because of Kyle Bevan's brutality"
NSPCC Cymru's assistant director Tracey Holdsworth said: "Lola died because of Kyle Bevan's brutality and the abject failure of her mother, Sinead James, to protect her.
"However, the death of a child in such harrowing circumstances leaves many of us asking questions and the child practice review being carried out into the circumstances around Lola's death 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.
"We must make child protection a national priority.
"The Welsh Government has rightly committed to transforming children's social care and it is crucial this leads to systemic changes that ensure children like Lola are better protected."
A spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed a child practice review would take place into the death of Lola James.
"We can confirm a child practice review is under way and this will be completed in accordance with statutory guidance," the spokesman said.
"We do not at this stage have an agreed timescale for publication however a copy of the report will be made available to media outlets in advance of publication."
They added: "Whilst Pembrokeshire County Council has had some historical involvement with Lola and her family, the local authority was not involved with the family at the time of her death or indeed at any time during the relationship between Kyle Bevan and Sinead James.
"The local authority continues to offer its sincerest condolences to Lola's family for their loss, recognising that this outcome will bring little comfort to them, given they have lost Lola so young and in such tragic circumstances."