Lola James: Mother Sinead James and boyfriend Kyle Bevan to be sentenced for toddler's death

A mother and her former boyfriend are due to be sentenced for their parts in the murder of a two-year-old toddler.

Read the latest here: Mother Sinead James and boyfriend Kyle Bevan jailed for toddler's death

Lola James died after a suffering a "brutal, frenzied, and violent attack" at her own home which left her unconscious with 101 injuries including brain damage.

She hospital on 21 July 2020, days after the assault at the hands of her mother’s then boyfriend Kyle Bevan in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

During the trial, Lola's brain injuries were compared to those of car crash victims.

The Court heard that Lola was attacked while Bevan, 31, was alone with her.  

Phone records showed that Lola had quickly become unconscious after the assault, and Bevan had googled, "My 2 year old child has just taken a bang to the head and gone all limp and snoring. What’s wrong."

Bevan had only moved into the family home four months before the assault, after connecting with Sinead James on Facebook.

He also denied involvement in Lola's death claiming it was the family dog that caused the injuries by pushing her down the stairs.

Bevan is due to hear what his jail term will be at Swansea Crown Court this afternoon after being found guilty of murder earlier this month.

John Hipkin KC, representing Bevan, did not offer any personal mitigation on behalf of his client during the sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court.

“Can I indicate straight away that those defending Kyle Bevan accept there is little or no realistic mitigation,” he said.

“We agree that this will be a life sentence and the starting point is 15 years with a significant uplift.”

His former partner, and Lola’s mother, Sinead James, 30, is also due to be sentenced at the same court, after being found guilty at the same trial of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Prosecutors said mum, James, failed to protect her daughter when she allowed Bevan with a "nasty and violent temper" to move into their home.

David Elias KC, representing Sinead James, told Swansea Crown Court she had been the victim of domestic abuse by previous partners and feared that if she raised concerns about Kyle Bevan’s behaviour in the home he would become violent like in other relationships.

“We submit that the evidence must be seen in the context of the relationship,” he said. “In police interview and she repeated in evidence the relationship with Kyle Bevan was different, but she feared that he would react in the way previous partners had.

“He was a man who would go on kill her daughter but while on the face of it he was treating her in a much better way than other partners in the past but because of the background she did fear that he might do something similar to her if she called the police or sought help.”

Mr Elias added: “We submit the loss of her child is an important factor to take account of in her case.

“She will always have to live with the fact that she has lost her daughter at the hands of a man she allowed into her home.”

In court on Tuesday, Lola James’s grandmother, Nicola James, spoke directly to Kyle Bevan as she read her victim impact statement.

Addressing the court from the witness box while Sinead James wept, she began by addressing her granddaughter’s killer directly, telling him: “Look at me Kyle”.

She said: “There isn’t a single moment of any day that I don’t think of Lola. I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with what has happened. Lola Patricia James was just two years and 10 months old when she was murdered. I constantly blame myself for what has happened. Why didn’t I see something? Why didn’t I notice? I blame everyone and everything in the attempt to try and understand why and how this has happened.

“Lola was my cheeky monkey. If there was any mischief to be done in the house, she would be the one that was involved. If I said no to something, she would do it anyway. She was so independent. Lola would spend her days with me dancing around the garden, eating the strawberries and apples that we’d grown and searching for insects, butterflies, and other creepy crawlies. She was happiest when she was caked in mud, getting into her shorts and wellies.

“She grew into a charming, smiley, bubbly, mischievous little girl who was such a character. To the outside world she may have appeared shy, but with the one she loved she was outgoing and cheeky.”

Speaking directly to Bevan again, she said angrily: “Kyle. You took the young, innocent life of my granddaughter. At the same time, you’ve taken so much more than you can even imagine. You killed my Lola, and you have broken her family. I hope that in the time that you have now you can understand what you have done.”