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.”
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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.
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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.
