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| Lola James: Mother and partner guilty over toddler's death | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Lola James died at the Noah's Ark children's hospital on 21 July, 2020 | Lola James died at the Noah's Ark children's hospital on 21 July, 2020 |
| A man has been found guilty of murdering his partner's two-year-old daughter. | A man has been found guilty of murdering his partner's two-year-old daughter. |
| Kyle Bevan, 31, of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, subjected Lola James to a "brutal" assault while he was alone with her in July 2020. | Kyle Bevan, 31, of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, subjected Lola James to a "brutal" assault while he was alone with her in July 2020. |
| Lola's mother Sinead James, 30, of Neyland, Pembrokeshire, was also found guilty of causing or allowing her death. | |
| Lola died in hospital having suffered a "catastrophic" head injury. | Lola died in hospital having suffered a "catastrophic" head injury. |
| Bevan, James's boyfriend, blamed the family dog for the death, but a jury took just over 10 hours to find him guilty of murder. | |
| Swansea Crown Court heard Bevan, from Aberystwyth, told the police Lola's injuries were caused by the family dog, an American bulldog called Jessie, which pushed her down the stairs. | |
| The prosecution said the claim was a "deliberate lie to cover up his guilt". | |
| Bevan had lived in the family home in Haverfordwest for four months before he killed Lola. | |
| The court heard he used drugs including Xanax, cannabis and amphetamines, and had a volatile temper. | |
| Lola's mother Sinead James was found guilty of causing or allowing her death | |
| He subjected Lola to a "brutal" assault between the evening of 16 July and the morning of 17 July 2020. | |
| Lola, described as a "happy, beautiful and busy little girl", was found to have 101 cuts and bruises on her body. | |
| She experienced head trauma likened to injuries sustained in a high velocity car crash. | |
| Phone records show that at around 06:30 BST on 17 July, Bevan googled: "My two-year-old child has just taken a bang to the head and gone all limp and snoring. What's wrong?" | |
| Bevan waited another hour before calling an ambulance at around 07:30 BST. | |
| 'Excuses and lies' | |
| The court heard that when paramedics arrived at the home, they found Lola lying unconscious with a swollen and bruised face, and she also appeared to be wet. | |
| Investigators later noticed that the bath was spotlessly clean despite the rest of the house being dirty. | |
| A vomit and blood-stained grey onesie was also found in the corner of the living room. | |
| The prosecutor said it is believed all that was part of Kyle Bevan's attempt to destroy evidence. | |
| "We say that, rather than face up to what he did to the little girl, Kyle Bevan immediately tried to save himself. Rather than immediately call the emergency services, as surely would be natural had this been an accident as he now says, he took time to concoct excuses and lies," prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told the court. | |
| Jurors were shown photographs that Bevan took of Lola's injuries and a video he shot of her unconscious and badly injured. | |
| In the video, a topless Bevan is seen lifting an unresponsive Lola and trying to stand her up. | |
| He then lets her go and a thud can be heard as she falls to the ground. | |
| Bevan then places Lola back on the sofa where she can be heard snoring, and he walks towards the camera saying: "She's gone. She's gone." | |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Haverfordwest | Haverfordwest |
| Aberystwyth | Aberystwyth |