'I'm really scared' - Mum guilty over daughter's death 'sobbed' to 999 claiming she fell down stairs
Audio call released by The Crown Prosecution Service
Warning: Article contains details some readers may find distressing
A mother found guilty over the death of her two-year-old daughter had told a 999 operator she was “really scared” while she described bruising to the toddler’s head and face.
Sinead James' partner Kyle Bevan, 31, was found guilty of murder after Lola James, 2, was found to have more than 100 injuries on her body following a "brutal" and "violent" assault in July 2020.
James, was also found guilty of causing or allowing her daughter's death.
In the call made to the emergency services, she can be heard sobbing as she tells a call handler her daughter was unresponsive.
More than an hour after Lola is believed to have sustained fatal injuries, James called 999 after being woken up from bed.
Before this happened, Bevan searched the internet about what to do for topics relating to babies suffering head injuries spending his time attempting to cover up what he had done.
He then asked his mother to call an ambulance claiming he couldn't make the call himself because he didn't have any credit on his phone.
He also had shot a 22-second video on his phone of Lola’s condition more than 30 minutes before he asked his mother to call for help.
At 7.29am, emergency services operators received a 999 call from Bevan's mother.
On the call, Ms Bevan can be heard telling the operator: “She’s a two-year-old that’s fallen down the stairs. She’s unconscious. They can’t wake her up.
“She’s got ADHD, she’s fallen from top to bottom of the stairs.
“Then she’s bit the end of her tongue because they’re not sure if she’s fitted. But she’s floppy. They can’t wake her up.”
At 7.30am James made an NHS 111 call during which she described Lola’s face as “swollen” and said she was “really scared”.
James was heard telling the operator Lola had fallen down the stairs.
When asked if Lola was awake, James said no and described how she had fallen "from the top of the stairs to the bottom".
She said: "Her whole head’s all swollen. And she’s bit the top of her tongue off or something."
The call handler then asked, "So does she wake up when you try and wake her?" to which James replied, "She like moans when I tried to wake her but her eyes are swollen. I’m really scared."
When the handler asked what caused the fall, James replied: "This bloody dog that I had, it barged her and she just fell."
An ambulance was dispatched to Lola’s home address at 7.32am.
Paramedics arrived at the scene at around 7.34am. At this stage Lola was unconscious but alive.
Bevan told the paramedics “I think the dog tripped her over.”
Police officers arrived at the scene at 11.17am capturing their conversation with Bevan through body-worn video cameras. Bevan claimed Lola was pushed down the stairs by the dog and said he only feels partly responsible because he was making her a bowl of cereal at the time.
Lola was transferred by ambulance to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest where Bevan became aggressive with doctors who asked questions about Lola’s injuries.
She died at the University Hospital Wales (UHW) in Cardiff four days later.
Bevan, who was found guilty of murder and James, who was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child, will be sentenced on 25 April.