Kyle Bevan accused of brutal fatal attack on Lola James

The prosecution presented their closing argument to the jury at Swansea Crown Court on Thursday morning.

Bevan, 31, of Aberystwyth, denies murdering Lola, while 30-year-old James, of Neyland, denies causing or allowing the death of her two-year-old daughter.

“On July 16, 2020, Lola James, a beautiful bright little girl went to bed without, according to her mother, a bump, bruise, or scrape on her body – apart from a bruise to her nose,” said Prosecutor Caroline Rees.

“At 6.32am the next morning, Lola was battered, scratched, and heavily bruised from head to toe.

“She was in the care of Kyle Bevan as Sinead James slept upstairs.”

Ms Rees said such “serious and extensive injuries” were the result of “a frenzied and brutal attack”, and were consistent with “blunt force trauma and forceful shaking”.

Kyle Bevan was accused of launching a 'frenzied and brutal' attack on Lola. (Image: Facebook)

She suggested that Lola must have been rendered unconscious early in the alleged attack, as James was not woken during the night, despite sleeping with the door open and waking “at the slightest noise”.

Ms Rees said Lola was found to have sustained 101 injuries as a result of the incident.

“Every single expert concluded Lola’s injuries were non-accidental and not consistent with a fall down the stairs.

“This was a deliberate assault and not an accident.”

Ms Rees referred to one doctor’s testimony that Lola’s body was “the most extensively battered and bruised [they] had ever seen”.

Lola was “a defenceless child”, Ms Rees continued. “She wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Ms Rees said the incident happened just before 6.32am, which was the time of the first Google search on Bevan’s phone.

“It’s clear that medical help was required,” she said.

“If Lola truly had received her injuries in an accidental fall, as Kyle Bevan claims, making a 999 call by any means should have been his priority.

“We say Kyle Bevan needed that hour to concoct lies to protect himself. He needed that time to cover his tracks.

“Kyle Bevan lied in his police interview to conceal his guilt and his responsibility in inflicting those injuries to Lola.”

Ms Rees described Bevan as a “Jekyll and Hyde character”

“Everything you heard about him from witnesses, including Sinead James, proves him to be aggressive and unpredictable, exacerbated by his use of drugs,” she said

“He was, we say, no kind of man to be living in a house with three small children – two of which were unable to speak.

“Kyle Bevan is a bully. The kind of bully that will viciously batter a two-year-old child.”

“We say Kyle Bevan, like most bullies, is a coward,” she continued, adding that Bevan did not take the stand to give evidence or be cross-examined.

She referenced several incidents in the months leading to Lola’s death.

On May 14, Bevan “exploded” after taking Xanax and smashed up a lightswitch with a hammer, while after taking Xanax on another occasion in July, James’ tooth cap was knocked off by the dog as it jumped onto the bed after it was spooked by Bevan “shouting” and “headbutting the door”.

And on July 7, it is alleged that Bevan pushed her youngest daughter in her pram into a busy road while saying “f*** it”.

“That incident alone ought to have demonstrated to Sinead James that Kyle Bevan posed a risk to her children,” said Ms Rees.

Sinead James denies causing or allowing the death of her daughter Lola. (Image: Athena Picture Agency)

The prosecutor acknowledged she had sympathy for James, having lost her child and with a history of being a victim of domestic abuse.

However, she said: “She knew, or at the very least ought to have known, that at the time of Lola’s death Kyle Bevan posed a significant risk in causing Lola harm.

“Despite all the facts, Sinead James takes no reasonable steps to protect her children, including Lola, from the risks posed by Kyle Bevan.

“Sinead James had been educated in responses to domestic violence situations and the impact on children.  She had been given advice about bringing adults into the home. But she ignored them.

“This is someone who has been given every opportunity to make better decisions but has failed to do so.

“She knew they had never been injured when she was looking after them, and this started when Kyle Bevan was looking after them.

“She failed them.”

The trial continues.