Lola James: Mother and her ‘monster’ partner jailed over two-year-old’s murder in Pembrokeshire

Published

2 years ago

April 25, 2023

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A mother and her “monster” partner have been jailed over the death of a two-year-old girl.

Kyle Bevan, 31, was given a life sentence for murdering Lola James, the daughter of his partner, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, with a minimum term of 28 years.

Lola’s mother, Sinead James, was sentenced to six years for causing or allowing her death – but will serve half before she’s eligible for release.

The attack at the hands of Bevan took place on 17 July 2020, with Lola dying four days later.

Medical experts noted 101 separate injuries to her body, including a “catastrophic” brain injury.

Judge Mr Justice Griffiths said he was sure Bevan “was responsible for multiple assaults on the children before he murdered Lola”.

“He [Bevan] didn’t get emergency help, he didn’t wake Lola’s mum up. Instead he tried to cover his tracks,” the judge added.

“He moved Lola’s body around, callously photographing it and even filming it at one stage.”

Before sentencing, Lola’s grandmother, Nicola James, appealed directly to Bevan, saying: “Look at me Kyle.”

He barely reacted and showed no sign of remorse, while James was in floods of tears.

“There isn’t a single moment of any day that I don’t think of Lola,” said Ms James.

“Lola was nearly three when she was killed, she had her whole life ahead of her. She’ll never grow up, never get old.”

The court heard Lola was a “charming, smiley, bubbly, mischievous little girl”.

Ms James ended her statement by again speaking directly to Bevan in the dock.

“Kyle. You took the young innocent life of my granddaughter,” she said. “You killed my Lola and you have broken her family.”

Daniel Thomas, Lola’s father, said his daughter was “as bright as the golden sun” in a statement read on his behalf.

“Lola won’t have another birthday or ride a bike or listen to her favourite story,” he said.

“I will never get to meet my daughter as a teenager or a woman.”

He said he missed his daughter “every single day”.

‘Pushed by the dog’

Bevan, from Aberystwyth, claimed Lola had fallen down the stairs after the family dog – an American bulldog – pushed her.

During the trial, Sinead James called Bevan a “monster” who “needs to rot in hell”.

“If I had got him out of the house my daughter would still be alive today,” she said.

The judge described Lola’s mother as “very remorseful” and “genuinely devastated” about her death.

But he said James did not live in fear of Bevan and, when she wanted to, could “remove herself and her children from Kyle Bevan and to berate him when she thought he deserved it”.

The judge added that she showed a “failure to respond to warnings about Kyle Bevan and his behaviour”.

During the four-week trial at Swansea Crown Court, the jury heard how Lola was murdered as Sinead James was asleep upstairs.

She said Bevan had woken her at around 7.20am to tell her Lola had fallen down the stairs and that the dog had “pushed her”.

She told 999 operators Lola’s face was “swollen” and she was “really scared” after finding her unresponsive on the sofa.

Police believed Bevan had tried to clean the bath after putting Lola in there – as the rest of the house was generally dirty – either to try to revive her or clean her of blood and vomit.

Investigators found a grey onesie stained by both in the corner of the living room.

NSPCC Cymru has called for child protection to be made a “national priority” following Lola’s death.

The charity’s assistant director, Tracey Holdsworth, said the girl’s future had been “cruelly taken away”.

“The Child Practice Review into Lola’s death must establish whether more could have been done by agencies to save her, and drive the action required to help prevent such tragic cases in the future,” she added.

UK

Home secretary to announce extra £500m for neighbourhood policing

Published

26 mins ago

November 19, 2024

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Home secretary to announce extra £500m for neighbourhood policing

An extra £500m of additional funding will be given to neighbourhood policing, the home secretary is set to announce.

Yvette Cooper will also lay out plans for a new unit to improve the performances of police forces across the country to end the “postcode lottery” of how effectively crimes are dealt with.

The Home Office says the unit will directly monitor police performance in areas prioritised by the government, including tackling violence against women and girls and knife crime.

The home secretary will make the announcements in her first major speech at the annual conference of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on Tuesday.

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Ms Cooper is expected to say: “Public confidence is the bedrock of our British policing model but in recent years it has been badly eroded, as neighbourhood policing has been cut back and as outdated systems and structures have left the police struggling to keep up with a fast-changing criminal landscape.

“That’s why we’re determined to rebuild neighbourhood policing, to improve performance across police forces and to ensure the highest standards are being upheld across the service.

“The challenge of rebuilding public confidence is a shared one for government and policing.

“This is an opportunity for a fundamental reset in that relationship, and together we will embark on this roadmap for reform to regain the trust and support of the people we all serve and to reinvigorate the best of policing.”

As well as the new government performance unit, ministers also hope to improve the relationship between the public and the police by standardising and measuring police response times – something that is not currently monitored.

In the aftermath of the summer riots, sparked by the Southport stabbings on 29 July, Ms Cooper said respect for the police needed to be restored after the “brazen abuse and contempt” shown by the perpetrators.

She said too often people feel “crime has no consequences” and that “has to change” as she promised to restore confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.

Dr Rick Muir, director of policing thinktank the Police Foundation, said: “A serious reform programme like this in policing is long overdue.

“Too often in the past, officers at the frontline have been let down by outdated technology, inadequate training and inefficient support services.

“Until these issues are addressed, the public won’t get the quality of policing they deserve.”

UK

Post Office Horizon Scandal: Four suspects identified by police

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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Post Office Horizon Scandal: Four suspects identified by police

Four suspects have so far been identified by police investigating possible criminal charges in the Post Office scandal, Sky News has learned.

Sources have said that among the offences being considered are perverting the course of justice and perjury.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing from their branches between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon software caused accounting errors.

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The Metropolitan Police is a so-called core participant in the Post Office public inquiry and has been monitoring and assessing material submitted.

It is expected that the number of suspects being investigated by police could rise in the next six to 12 months.

More than a million documents are believed to be being sifted through and the number of police officers investigating the scandal has also risen from 80 to 100, with work across every single police force.

It is not expected, however, that any charges will be brought before 2027/28, and that time frame could be extended.

A Sky News source said the number of suspects was seemingly “just a starting point”.

A meeting took place this weekend between more than 150 sub-postmasters, including Sir Alan Bates, and the Metropolitan Police.

Sir Alan said he had been told by officers that “it was going to take a few years” and that there are “no restrictions on how high investigations will take them”.

He also said the priority for sub-postmasters was financial redress and then, after that, victims will be “looking for people to be held to account”.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Yesterday [17 November] we met with Alan Bates and some of the affected sub-postmasters to provide a brief on our progress and next steps.

“Our investigation team, comprising around 100 officers from forces across the UK, is now in place and we will be sharing further details in due course.

“Initially four suspects have been identified and we anticipate this number to grow as the investigation progresses.”

UK

British Airways flights delayed after ‘technical issue’

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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British Airways flights delayed after 'technical issue'

A “technical issue” at British Airways has delayed flights, reportedly for thousands of passengers.

Travel journalist Simon Calder said on X: “British Airways IT system failure is causing delays of 1-2 hours on many BA flights this evening… As delays build up I fear there will be cancellations tonight/tomorrow.”

In a statement on Monday evening, British Airways said flights were “currently operating, but are experiencing delays” and that its teams were working to “resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems”.

Later they said it had been resolved: “Our teams worked hard to resolve an issue we experienced for a short time earlier this evening.

“We’ve apologised to customers for delays to their flights and ensured they were able to reach their destinations as planned.”

Earlier media reports suggested dozens of flights were grounded and that communications systems were affected.

One X user pictured people queueing on the tarmac in Verona, Italy. “What has happened to the nations airline? Not fit for purpose,” they said.

Replying to another X user BA said: “Our website is down. We are doing all we can to return online as soon as possible.

“Hopefully not too long before the Captain has his load sheet. Thanks for your understanding. Have a good journey when it is safe for you to be airborne.”

A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: “We are aware of a technical issue that British Airways are investigating, and we will be working with them to provide updates to passengers as soon as they are available. Heathrow systems are operating as normal.”

In June many British Airways (BA) flights in Heathrow were delayed by several hours by a “technical fault” with baggage handling.

BA said there had been a “temporary technical fault” which had disrupted its baggage system at the airport and had apologised for the problems it caused.