This is the face of Kyle Bevan, who battered his partner's toddler to death in 2020 and casually hid her Frozen hoodie to cover his tracks. Bevan had only been part of two year old Lola James' life for a matter of months when he subjected to her to unimaginable violence, inflicting catastrophic brain injuries and leaving her body covered in more than 100 bruises, puncture wounds, and abrasions.
On Tuesday, April 25 Bevan was sentenced to 28 years in jail for his part in the brutal attack in July 2020 in Haverfordwest. The judge saying the assault was "sustained, deliberate, and very violent" and an "exercise of power" over "the only person he could feel superior to" - a helpless child.
The judge added that Bevan had shown no remorse for what he had done and that he was sure it was the culmination of months of physical child abuse of Lola, described as a "beautiful, bright, busy" little girl who was just a few months shy of of her third birthday. Lola's mum Sinead Jamed, who had only been in a relationship with Bevan for a few months when he carried out the savage attack, was sentenced to six years in prison for allowing or causing the death of a child. You can recap our coverage of the trial here.
Read more: Lola James' gran faces down toddler's killer in court and reads out powerful statement
Kyle Bevan had only been in a relationship with Sinead James a few months after adding her on Facebook before moving in with her in early 2020 as the UK went into lockdown. They met in February of that year on Facebook and later met in person. Within a matter of days Bevan was living in the family home in Haverfordwest. They hardly knew each other.
Weeks before she met Bevan, James had come out of an abusive relationship and had been receiving support from several agencies. She had completed courses to designed help people recognise domestic abusers and to give them advice on how to ask for help. She had been told not to invite adults into the family if she did not know them well or know whether they are safe or whether they used alcohol or illicit substances.
A health visitor had said James told her she "found Lola very demanding" and thought "there’s something wrong with her" and she "wanted a doctor to sort it out". Their home environment was described as "cluttered, dirty and smelling damp" and on occasions Lola had appeared unwashed and with dirty feet. There were concerns about James’ ability to stay on top of home conditions and support was offered which was accepted. Around the same time she met Bevan, James was advised to use the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - commonly known as Clare’s Law - when starting new relationships.
In the early days the couple's relationship was peppered with both good times and explosive rows, many taking place on Facebook Messenger from different rooms of the house. James suffered with depression and Bevan frequently used drugs including cannabis, amphetamine, sleeping tablets, and Xanax as well as alcohol. He was described in court has a "Jekyll and Hyde" character and in one instance was reported to have started punching the walls of the house before grabbing a hammer and smashing up the property forcing James to flee to a friend's house with Lola. He later apologised.
Text messages indicate the dynamic in the house, including one occasion where Bevan told James to "come get your f****** child." He later messaged her saying: "You’re being a f****** a***hole Sinead, sly as f***. I’m not bothering anymore. You have p***** me off last night and you have p***** me off this morning. I have got weed here for your mum and you didn’t even give it to her."
In other messages to Bevan, James referred to Lola as "a little b*tch" after she woke up screaming following a bad dream, and said she was "doing my f****** head in" and she would throw her out of the window if she didn't calm down.
In another exchange between the pair James complained about Bevan's drug taking, saying "I can’t sit there with you off it and the faces you pull" and telling him to "get out" of her life and the house. Bevan later responds calling her "F****** horrible sly c***, horrible" and saying "F*** you lying, cheating, childish, c***". James told him: "Kyle, what you’re doing is a form of domestic violence."
Bevan would later tell police that his relationship with James was "pretty good 90% of the time" but he accepted they had argued. He admitted he had searched her phone and had been "keeping an eye on her" because he thought she had been in touch with an ex.
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 to his mother who assured her it was nonsense. The relationship continued. The trial at Swansea Crown Court heard details of an occasion when James was out and Bevan was looking after Lola when the toddler suffered bruising to her nose and under her eyes. Bevan said the family dog had knocked the toddler off the couch and into the coffee table, a story James appeared to accept.
At the trial the prosecution said Bevan's behaviour should have set alarm bells ringing for James, who was told she had been warned about the risks of introducing adults into the family home. 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 she and her daughter, she later said she was afraid of her new partner who she said made her feel "worthless." But she never told her health visitor nor her domestic violence officer that Bevan was living there, nor did she ever ask for help from the authorities or from family and friends.
It appears that the week before Lola's murder was "calm" in the Princess Royal Way house where James, her daughter and Bevan lived. On July 16, 2020 James took Lola to a park for a couple of hours with James' aunty and her children before coming home. Lola had a temporary tattoo transfer put on her arm and pictures were taken. It appeared a normal, happy day by all accounts.
James went to bed around 9pm to watch YouTube clips leaving Bevan and Lola playing downstairs. At some stage Bevan must have put Lola to bed or at least taken her to her bedroom. James was woken around midnight by a bang and scream and went to Lola's room to find Bevan and the toddler sitting at the foot of the bed. Bevan told James Lola had dumped her head but that 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. When asked at trial why she had not put her daughter to bed James said: "I didn’t want the confrontation and he wanted to spend time with them... I thought a one off wouldn’t hurt."
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. After raining down blows on Lola in the attack, Bevan began searching for information on the internet about head injuries before taking photos and a video of her limp body in a sickening plot to try and cover his tracks. He instead messaged his mother – a healthcare worker – who then raised the alarm and called for an ambulance. You can hear the call that she made here.
Bevan did not seek medical help for the stricken Lola nor wake James. The jurors who tried Bevan had to watch the video in the courtroom, and it was something the prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said would likely "live with them long after the case has finished." It wasn't until 7.20am that Bevan woke James to tell her her daughter had fallen down the stairs after being knocked down by the family dog - a fabricated story. James found her little girl with her face and lips swollen and bruised, lying unconscious on the living room couch.
Lola was subsequently rushed first to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest and then to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Her injuries were unsurvivable and she died four days later. She was two years and nine months old. As the prosecutor said at trial - her life had been ended before it had really begun.
Police later found that Lola appeared to have been washed, the temporary tattoos she had on her arm scrubbed off and her hair wet. A vomit-stained Frozen hoody of hers was hidden in a cupboard and the bathroom of the house was sparkling clean despite the rest of the property being in a state, filled with leftover food and rubbish. You can see photos of the inside of the house here.
In his police interview, Bevan later told officers: "Basically I was up all night, I was downstairs, have you been in the house? It’s easier to explain… When you go in there there’s a long corridor and the stairs are there.
"I went to make a coffee and saw Lola at the top of the stairs with nothing on. ‘Are you alright babe? Do you want some cereal?’. She said ‘Yeah’. I assumed she ripped her nappy off before you question me on that… I could hear footsteps on the ceiling upstairs and next thing I heard was two or three massive bangs. Boom, boom, boom. I came running around the corner and she was on the floor and I really did panic right, and I tried like basically because I didn’t, at first I thought she was out cold to be honest.
"I thought she was out cold, I waited to see if she came around. I knew I shouldn’t have, I realised she was snoring and that’s choking on your tongue. I put my hands in her mouth and a sheet for her to chew on so she wouldn’t chew her tongue, a bit of her tongue had cut off, bit a chunk at the end.
"I knew I should have left her but I picked her up and put her on the sofa and I tried to get her dressed because she was freezing cold. I put clothes on her and tried to blow in her mouth. I tried everything." In a later interview he denied hitting the child saying "She’s f****** gone down had mate, I have seen it in episodes of Eastenders."
Medics later recorded more than 100 bruises and abrasions all over Lola's 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 said she would have been in pain and discomfort, and would likely have made a noise. The fact no screams were heard leads to the chilling conclusion that she was viciously beaten while she was unconscious and unable to defend herself.
Bevan was subsequently charged with murder and James was charged with causing or allowing the death of a child by failing to protect her from a foreseeable risk. Despite claiming his innocence, Bevan refused to give evidence during his trial at Swansea Crown Court. After deliberating for just under ten 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. On Tuesday April 25 Mr Justice Griffiths sentenced Bevan to 28 years in prison. James was sentenced to six years in prison.
The judge said the assault carried out by Bevan was "sustained, deliberate, and very violent", and involved the use of weapons. He said he was satisfied the attack was an "exercise of power" over "the only person he could feel superior to" - a helpless child. Regarding her mum, he said James prioritised her relationship with Bevan over the safety of her family, failed to take effective steps to keep Lola safe and did not disclose the presence of Bevan in the house.
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