Mom’s New BF Shook Daughter So Hard Her Eyes Exploded
Lola Patricia James was born in Wales on September 30th, 2017, to parents Sinead James and Daniel Thomas. She had an older sister, born in March of 2014, and a baby sister, born in May of 2019. Lola’s maternal grandmother, Nicola James, said the toddler had big sparkly eyes and soft blonde curls, and that she gave the best hugs. She had an open smile and sometimes wore her hair in short pigtails tied with a bow.
Though she was shy around strangers, her family said she was feisty, outgoing, and bold. Nicola called Lola her “cheeky monkey,” who grew into a charming, smiley, bubbly, and mischievous little girl. Her grandmother recounts a time that captures the cheeky side of Lola’s personality: she had asked to paint her fingernails and was told no, but that didn’t stop the determined toddler. A few minutes later, there was bright red nail polish on her feet, ankles, and all over her hands—it was everywhere. Though it was likely a bit of work to clean it all up, Nicola says she smiles when she remembers how independent Lola could be.
Lola loved dancing, singing, and playing with her dollhouse. She and her big sister sometimes stayed up late pretending to be princesses from Frozen. She loved the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and her favorite snack was Monster Munch corn chips. Her father, Daniel, said even as a toddler, she loved the outdoors and everything there: the birds, bees, and butterflies. She loved eating homegrown strawberries and apples from her grandmother’s garden and going on butterfly hunts. Her grandmother said she was happiest when she was caked in mud, getting into her shorts and wellies. Her father described her as bright as the golden sun. She was beautiful, charming, and cheeky; her laugh would fill the room with pure joy.
Sinead and Daniel’s relationship was over not long after it started. He was described as a loving and attentive parent to Lola from a distance, but he wasn’t involved in Sinead’s life. After Lola was born, Sinead, her daughters, and the family dog lived in a single-family home in Haverfordwest, a small town in the southwest of Wales. Visitors to her home described it as sometimes messy and smelly, with diapers and clothes all over the place. Pictures of the bedroom that the girls shared showed cheerful wallpaper and pink curtains, but also a mess of clothes and toys strewn everywhere, with an empty soda can and old popsicle sticks among the clutter.
After Daniel, Sinead got into another relationship, but he was a violent man and it did not end well. A domestic violence (DV) incident occurred in her home, he was reported, and Sinead stopped seeing him. Now, much like a report of DV in the United States might trigger a CPS investigation, in Wales, the local branch of the National Health Services was notified. The Hywel Dda Health Board submitted a multi-agency referral in an effort to get mental health and other services to Sinead and her girls. The agency didn’t release her prior records but did say the local authority had significant involvement with the family over the years.
In January 2020, Health Visitor Leslie Stedman met with her at her home and discussed her situation. Health visitors do some of the work that a caseworker might do in the states; Leslie’s job was to evaluate the cleanliness and safety of her home, write a report, and refer her for services. Sinead identified herself as a victim of DV, so Leslie offered her education on DV and its related dangers, including the risk it posed to children.
The next month, on February 10th, Leslie stopped by the house for another face-to-face visit with Sinead and the children, who at this time were 5 years, 2 years, and 8 months old. She noted the house was cluttered, dirty, and smelled damp. She was concerned that Sinead couldn’t keep up with the housekeeping and noted that Lola looked like she needed a bath and her feet were dirty.
Like many 2-year-olds, Lola was a handful, and her mother was struggling to care for her. Evidence of this struggle can be found in her text history. In one, Sinead described Lola as a terror. She said, “She don’t sit still, she beats me up.” She had enrolled Lola in a program at Flying Start to help with her behavior. In a later text, Sinead said Lola was “doing my head in” and threatened that if Lola didn’t start behaving, she’d throw her out the window. Sinead told Leslie about the stress Lola was causing. She said there was something wrong with the girl because she was very demanding; she thought Lola might have ADHD. Leslie offered parental support from a nurse along with speech therapy for the toddler, but Sinead refused the help.
Again, Leslie went over the tips for recognizing a person who might commit DV, and she told Sinead not to invite adults into the family home if she didn’t know them well or if they used alcohol or drugs. Sinead did not mention any new romantic partners, though it is possible she had already met her next boyfriend. He was exactly the kind of person Leslie was warning her about.
Later that same day, Sinead visited her general practitioner, Dr. Annalene Holiday. She told the doctor that watching Lola was exhausting. She said the toddler stayed up until 2:00 a.m. every night and would throw her food back at her. She also complained of flashbacks from the DV, which caused her to be tearful sometimes. The doctor prescribed antidepressants, which Sinead would later say worked well for her.
Sometime in February, Sinead got a friend request over social media from a complete stranger named Kyle Bevan. She accepted, and the two began exchanging messages. Kyle described himself as a recovering crack and spice addict, though he still drank alcohol and used amphetamines, Xanax, Valium, and weed—so his recovery seemed quite limited. He had a young daughter from a previous relationship, but he wasn’t in contact with her. Though Sinead said she was, in her own words, “frightened of every man” because of her history as a victim of DV, she thought Kyle would be her protector.
Within hours of their first conversation, they began a relationship. Reports vary, but either the day after they started talking or just a few days later, Kyle moved in with Sinead and her three vulnerable children. It was not long before the girls started accumulating injuries and bruises, especially Lola, who was still too young to clearly explain what was happening to her.
On April 19th, while Kyle was awake and Sinead was asleep upstairs, he sent a message saying Lola tripped over toys while coming down the stairs at 2:00 a.m. He claimed she had smashed her face and got a bloody nose. On April 26th, Sinead noticed Lola had a scrape on her chin; Kyle explained it away as Lola just falling, calling her a “crazy kid.” Sinead said Kyle was really good with Lola. She said he would cook her dinner, do stuff with her, and was always buying her things she didn’t need just to treat her. Sometimes Kyle seemed to enjoy the children, but at other times his mood shifted, and they frustrated him. In one message, he talked about buying Lola presents and said she was fun to be around; but in another, he said, “Too many kids in the house, just doing my head in.” When he was in a bad mood, he was nasty and intimidating.
Under ordinary circumstances, Health Visitor Leslie Stedman would have returned to the home in April. However, the world events of 2020 soon made that impossible as lockdowns were imposed in Wales and around the world. She still kept in touch via telephone, but Sinead would not tell her that Kyle had moved in, and she didn’t mention Lola’s injuries.
Texts from May 4th showed Lola acting out, possibly to indicate she didn’t like Kyle and the way he hurt her. Sinead saw Lola spitting at him and making a horrible noise. Lola also screamed while Kyle was with her at night. The violence escalated, and Lola ended up with a cut lip. Kyle claimed she fell off her bed, saying she was standing in her cot and dropped to the floor really quickly, biting her lip on the way down. “I tried to help but she kicked off,” he told Sinead. “I feel like you don’t trust me anymore… Lola needs to get used to me, babe. I am not the devil. I think the world of that little girl.” Of course, Sinead believed his excuses.
On May 10th, the baby—Lola’s younger sister—had a black eye. Casey Morgan, who is Sinead’s best friend and neighbor, was disturbed when she saw it and took a picture. When Casey asked what happened, Sinead said the baby had an accident while Kyle was watching her. Casey did not like Kyle and told Sinead to get rid of him, saying she didn’t want him around her house or her kids.
By May, Sinead knew that Kyle regularly took strong tranquilizers and often used other drugs. She admitted they both took amphetamines together but claimed she only participated when the children were out of the house staying with her mother or other family. On May 14th, Kyle took Xanax and flew into a rage. He used a hammer to smash up the house, including the light switches in the kitchen, and tried to headbutt Sinead. Scared, she gathered up the children and ran to Casey’s house. They spent the night there, but the next day Kyle did what abusers always do: he acted contrite and apologized. He sent a message that said, “I feel like a monster,” and asked Sinead to forgive him. Casey begged her to stay, but Sinead and the children went home the next day. She let Kyle continue living there and kept leaving him alone with the kids.
A few days later, her cousin visited and told her that the house was so dirty and cluttered that social services might get involved. Kyle again flew into a rage and got aggressive with her cousin, who quickly left.
On June 8th, the health visitor phoned to ask how she and the children were doing. Sinead told her that she had another adult living in her home but lied and said it was a female. She didn’t report her new relationship or any of the recent injuries to the children, and she concealed the state of her home. Conditions continued to deteriorate. Sinead and Kyle often argued about Lola, and the arguments got heated. In one message, he told her to “come get your [expletive] child,” while in another, it was Sinead who was angry at him for keeping Lola up all night. She messaged, “What’s up with you? She needs to be in bed, it’s 4:00 a.m.” He replied, “It was one [expletive] night. She was falling asleep while playing and I was going to carry her up. I wanted to give her a cuddle to sleep, but you [expletive] it up.” Given his increasing violence towards Lola, it’s chilling to imagine what he might have been doing with her in the middle of the night.
On June 11th, she and Kyle argued, and he grabbed her arm. She texted a friend and said, “I’m done. I’m finished with Kyle. I’m not putting up with it. I have kids to think about.” She messaged him saying she was sick of his drug use and told him to get out. Kyle replied, calling her “lying, cheating, childish.” Despite his physical and verbal abuse, Sinead backed down and let him stay, insisting that Kyle was not a danger to her children.
On July 5th, Casey saw Lola at the park and noticed bruises on her legs. There is no indication that Casey discussed her observation with Sinead, and she did not call the police. Sinead was angry with Kyle that day, but not because of what he was doing to Lola; she was angry about the way Kyle was treating her. That same day, she told him to get out again, texting, “What you are doing is a form of DV, I know, I’ve been through it.” When he refused to leave, she let the matter drop. She didn’t call the police or ask for any help evicting him.
Two days later, on July 7th, she and Kyle were outside in the neighborhood pushing the baby in her stroller. Sinead’s friend Casey was outside as well. In anger, Kyle shouted and pushed the stroller with the baby inside into a busy road. Sinead had to dive into the street and pull the baby out of oncoming traffic. Shaken, Sinead asked Casey if she and the kids could spend the night again. Casey agreed, and Sinead left the baby with her while she went back into the house to get the other children. Before Sinead got back, Kyle showed up. Casey said he was, in her own words, “foaming at the mouth, his eyes were huge, and he didn’t look good.” He was aggressive, and it was really scary. A few minutes later, Sinead and the children arrived looking petrified. They managed to enter Casey’s home without further incident, but the next day, Sinead again forgave Kyle. She took the children back home and continued to let him watch them.
On July 9th, Sinead received an ominous warning via social media. The grandmother of Kyle’s daughter—not his mother, but the mother of his ex-girlfriend—had heard Kyle was living with Sinead. She reached out, mom to mom, because she thought Sinead should know that Kyle had physically hurt her daughter and her granddaughter in the past. She told Sinead he was a child protection risk, saying, “I’m concerned about the fact that he’s around your children.” Sinead asked Kyle’s mother, Allison Bevan, about the claim. Allison said it wasn’t true. Just like that, on the word of someone who was likely biased and trying to protect her son, Sinead dismissed the warning—even though just two days before, he had pushed her baby into traffic.
Later that day, Lola’s face and nose were hurt quite badly, and again it happened while Kyle was alone with her. Kyle blamed the family dog, an American bulldog named Jesse. He said that Jesse pushed Lola off the couch and face-first into the coffee table. Concerned that Lola’s nose was broken, Sinead asked a couple of neighbors to look at it. They noticed Lola also had marks on the side of her neck as if someone had grabbed her there. They said she needed to see a doctor immediately, but Sinead lied and said that she had already seen one. Later, Kyle told her that his mom looked at Lola through a video call and said she was fine. He also told Sinead that his mom was a nurse, which was not true; although she did work as a healthcare assistant, she was not a nurse. It is unknown whether the video call ever happened, but Sinead believed him and never took Lola to the doctor. In fact, she didn’t take any of the children to the doctor for the injuries they suffered while Kyle was there.
The next day, Sinead left Kyle alone with Lola and the baby. She texted him, “You don’t need to tell me what you’re doing with them. I do trust you with them.” The day after that, on July 11th, Lola had another accident while Kyle was watching her, and Sinead texted, “Don’t feel bad.”
Although Sinead has never explained, something must have happened during the next five days, because on July 16th, she asked for Kyle’s birthday and told him she wanted to run a Clare’s Law check on him. Clare’s Law, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, was implemented in 2014 by all police departments in Wales. Named in honor of Clare Wood, who was murdered by her partner, it allows the police to divulge information they have about dangerous people likely to commit DV. Kyle refused to give Sinead his date of birth and said, “I don’t have to give it to you. They won’t find anything on me.” Still, even with her suspicion aroused, she did nothing to remove Kyle or her children from the home.
That night, her mother was supposed to watch Lola, but Nicola called and said she was feeling too sick. Sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., Sinead went to bed and left Kyle alone downstairs with Lola. Kyle said he took several pictures of her using Snapchat filters and then put her to bed.
A few minutes after midnight on July 17th, Sinead was woken by a loud bang and heard Lola screaming. She went to the children’s room and found Kyle holding Lola by her bed. He told her, “She’s all right. She banged her head and I’ve got this.” Without comforting Lola or looking at her head, Sinead believed him and went back to bed, where she fell asleep.
Over the next four hours, Kyle beat the toddler, causing multiple injuries. At 4:26 a.m., he took pictures of bruises on her back. In the image, she was still conscious and able to sit up on her own. Temporary tattoos—the toy kind that are sometimes prizes inside of cereal boxes—were visible on her arms. Sometime after taking the picture, he continued the assaults. Two hours later, around 6:30 a.m., he Googled the phrase: “My 2-year-old child has just taken a bang to the head and gone all limp and snoring.” He also searched for “loss of consciousness.”
At 6:37 a.m., he took a screenshot of a website on his phone. The image he captured clearly states that if a child has symptoms like excessive bruising, swelling, or loss of consciousness, he should call for an ambulance immediately. But he didn’t call for help. Over the next two minutes, he took more photographs of Lola, who could not sit up on her own and appears to be unconscious in the photos. Her head, eyes, and lips were extremely swollen and bruised.
At 6:40 a.m., he called his mother, Allison, but she didn’t answer. He sent her the photos of Lola, but she was asleep and didn’t see them until she woke up at 6:55 a.m. When she saw those photos, she texted that Kyle should take the toddler directly to the hospital. Instead, he propped his phone up so he could film a gruesome 22-second video. In it, he lifted the unresponsive girl up and tried to get her to stand on her feet. He let go, and Lola fell back to the floor with an audible thud. He picked her back up, set her on the couch, and said, “She’s gone. She’s gone.” He sent the video to his mother at 6:58 a.m., but his mother claimed she didn’t watch it.
At 7:00 a.m., she texted him again, saying he should wake Sinead up and get emergency help. She messaged him repeatedly over the next 13 minutes. Kyle did not respond. Instead, he tried to cover up his crime by putting Lola in the bath and dressing her in clean nightclothes. Around 7:20 a.m., he woke Sinead up and told her that an ambulance was on its way because Lola was all limp and had fallen down the stairs. He held out his finger and showed her a piece of Lola’s tongue that he said she had bitten off. But no ambulance was on its way because he had still not called one.
At 7:28 a.m., almost an entire hour after he Googled “unconsciousness,” he asked his mother to call an ambulance. At 7:29 a.m., Allison called emergency services. In her call, she said, “She’s a 2-year-old and she’s got ADHD. She has fallen top to bottom down the stairs and they can’t wake her up. She’s unconscious.” She also said the girl was floppy and had a massive lump on her head. She claimed her son didn’t call because he didn’t have credit on his phone, but the dispatcher told her they don’t need credit to call the emergency line.
At 7:30 a.m., Sinead also placed a 999 call. She told the dispatcher, “She’s fallen down the stairs from the top of the stairs to the bottom. Her head’s all swollen and she’s bit the top of her tongue off.” When asked why she fell, Sinead said, “The bloody dog I have, it just barged her and she fell.” While Sinead was on the phone, Kyle took more photographs and videos of Lola unconscious and snoring on the couch.
Around 7:34 a.m., the ambulance and paramedics arrived. Kyle told paramedics, “I think the dog tripped her over,” maintaining that she had fallen down the steps. They noted the girl’s face was swollen and badly bruised, and she appeared to be wet. She was not wearing a diaper underneath her pajamas, which was unusual because she wore one to bed. She was badly hurt and unconscious, but she was still alive. She was rushed to the nearby Withybush Hospital by ambulance.
After a short discussion with the police, Kyle and Sinead went to the hospital. Sinead’s mother and Lola’s father, Daniel, soon joined them there. Kyle became aggressive when the doctors asked how Lola got her injuries and threatened to rip up their notes. He also got into an argument with Daniel and challenged him to a fight. Everyone else was heartbroken and distraught, but Kyle didn’t even pretend to be sad.
When she was stabilized, it was clear she needed specialized treatment. Lola was transferred to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff, about an hour away. Sinead and her mother followed her to the second hospital, but Kyle, on the other hand, decided to go home.
Kyle didn’t answer the door right away when officers stopped by at 11:00 a.m. When he finally let them inside, they saw he had been vacuuming the living room floor, which seemed suspicious given the general disarray and dirtiness of the rest of the house. Every room was cluttered, with clothes on the floor and items on every flat surface. Even the stovetop had open cereal boxes sitting on the burners. A table in the living area was crowded with cigarette butts, empty food wrappers, and cleaning products. Despite the mess, the bathtub was spotless and looked like it had been recently cleaned.
During a search of the property, investigators found gray children’s pajamas in the corner of a living room. The pajamas were wet and covered in vomit and blood stains. The police asked if he had a mobile phone, and Kyle said he didn’t. When officers heard it ringing and found it hidden under a blanket, they made him hand it over.
He repeated his claim that the dog must have pushed her down the stairs. He said he was downstairs making coffee when Lola woke up and walked to the top of the stairs naked. He said, “I assume she ripped her nappy off before you question me on that.” He asked her if she wanted some cereal and went back to the kitchen to fix her a bowl. “I could hear footsteps on the ceiling upstairs, and next thing I heard was two or three massive bangs: boom, boom, boom. I came running around the corner and she was on the floor.” He said she was out cold and snoring, which he thought meant she was choking on her tongue. When he checked her mouth, he found she had bitten a chunk of it off. He said he moved her to the couch and dressed her because she was cold, claiming he attempted CPR by blowing into her mouth.
Kyle described Lola as accident-prone, a “nutcase,” and an “idiot.” He said she always falls and smacks her face or lacks awareness. He said Sinead fed her ice lollies all the time—”constantly ice lollies.” He also said, “Lola was crazy, absolutely crazy. She’s a bundle of energy, man. They’re testing her for ADHD and autism.” He was clearly trying to convince them that whatever happened was Lola’s fault. When asked why he waited so long to call the ambulance, he said, “I had to stop her chewing on her tongue, put her on the sofa, put clothes on her, and put the dog out. I sat next to her and prayed, really.” He described his relationship with Sinead as pretty good and said he often went through her phone to keep an eye on her.
When police interviewed Sinead, she also told them Lola had two left feet, didn’t sleep, and fell over everything. She said Kyle was amazing with Lola and she didn’t believe for a second that he would have hurt her. However, her opinion changed after police showed her the video Kyle had taken of Lola’s unconscious body falling to the floor with a loud thud. After watching it, she said she felt sick and wanted to punch him in the face. She said, “If he can do that, what has actually happened to my baby?”
Later that day, around 3:15 p.m., Kyle texted Sinead that they needed to make sure their stories match, saying they need to be “bang on.” He texted, “They think we hurt Lola. She fell down the stairs and the marks are from when the dog jumped up on her. It happens all the time.” Later he wrote, “I would never hurt her like that. I really hope you know I done everything I could.”
At 4:34 p.m., police arrested Sinead at Noah’s Ark Hospital on suspicion of child neglect. At 4:37 p.m., they found Kyle at a neighbor’s house and arrested him as well. Both were questioned and subsequently released. Four days later, on July 21st, Lola died as a result of her injuries. She was only 2 years and 10 months old. Her father, Daniel, stayed by her side during her last days. He said, “The guilt I feel lives inside me and will never leave, as the memory of Lola lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive will remain with me always.”
After Lola passed, the police went back to the house to question the couple again. Sinead was erratic and panicking when she answered the door. They described Kyle’s behavior as agitated and obstructive. When police explained they just needed to make sure nothing dodgy happened and they were just doing their jobs, Kyle was confrontational. He replied, “You chose to be a copper.”
Both Kyle and Sinead were arrested again in January of 2021, this time on suspicion of murder, and released on unconditional bail. On April 21st, 2022, they were arrested a third and final time. Kyle was charged with murder and causing the death of a child; he was held with no bail. Sinead was charged with causing or allowing the death of a child. She was put in jail for her own safety after receiving threats from community members. On June 29th, they both pled not guilty. Kyle was returned to jail to await his trial, while Sinead was released on conditional bail.
The trial began on March 7th, 2023, and was presided over by Sir Martin Alexander Griffiths in Swansea Crown Court. Prosecutor Caroline Rees said Lola had been the victim of a frenzied and extremely violent attack that lasted for six and a half hours. She presented evidence that showed Kyle waited an hour to call an ambulance while he photographed and filmed Lola’s dying body. He bathed her to cover up evidence, scrubbing so hard he removed the temporary tattoos applied on her arm. He also hid her soiled pajamas and likely hid or disposed of the weapons he used in his assault.
During testimony, Sinead called Kyle a monster. She expressed regret, saying she wondered whether Lola would still be alive if she had got him out of the house. She said, “I beat myself up every day. He needs to rot in hell.” She also claimed to be asleep during the incident, which prosecutors believed in part because they found no activity occurred on her cell phone during that time.
One witness called to testify was Coral Barker, who had owned Jesse the bulldog before giving her to Sinead. Coral said Jesse liked cuddles and that she was very well-behaved with her four young children. She also said that because of Kyle’s accusation, they were forced to put Jesse to sleep.
Dr. Michelle Jardine, an intensive care pediatrician with over 12 years of experience with young trauma patients, said that the toddler’s body was one of the most extensively bruised and battered bodies she had ever seen. Dr. Deborah Stalker, a consultant pediatrician, testified that the 101 bruises and scratches all over Lola’s body were not consistent with an accidental fall down the carpeted stairs. She didn’t think there was a part of her body that wasn’t bruised. Many of her bruises were larger than the ones caused by an accident, and some were consistent with being grabbed and squeezed by a human hand, typically only found in cases of child abuse. The doctor believed some of Lola’s injuries were caused by weapons that had not been found at the scene. In particular, her right thigh had circular bruises in a distinctive linear pattern, and the bleeding puncture wounds on her forehead appeared to be caused by a different weapon. Her back and legs had been hit by yet another unidentified weapon; the pattern showed three or four blows that caused large bruises.
The injuries on her neck were not consistent with an accident but were consistent with strangulation. The bruising on Lola’s ears almost never happens by accident; it was usually the result of a direct blow. Dr. Stalker said the large subdural hemorrhage Lola had was usually the result of a high-velocity road traffic collision where a child is thrown from the car, or a fall from a great height, such as a fall from a balcony or bedroom window of more than 10 feet. Of course, neither of those things had happened in this case, so the only other cause would have been violent shaking and forceful impacts. She said physical child abuse was the most likely cause.
A stair fall does not explain the catastrophic and extensive injuries to the head with bleeding to both eyes. Lola’s eyes had been horribly injured in all four quadrants, and both of her eyes were bleeding from multiple places, including from the optic nerve sheath. She had retinal folds and retinal splitting injuries—caused when the retina wrinkles and detaches—both signs of shaken baby syndrome. The doctor said, “The whole picture of Lola’s head injuries led me to conclude they were caused by abusive head trauma, most likely from being violently shaken.” Her cause of death was brain damage.
Consultant neuroradiologist Dr. Neil Stoodley examined CT and MRI scans of Lola’s head and independently came to the same conclusion. He said the subdural bleeding occurred mainly over the front left side of her brain, but also on the back right side and at the base of her brain. This was caused by forceful shaking and impact on the left side of her head. Her scalp was swollen in several places, as were her ears, which he pointed to as additional evidence of impact. He testified her injuries could not be explained by a fall down the stairs, and they were caused by inappropriate force. In his report, Dr. Stoodley wrote that the injuries inside her skull caused extensive brain damage that led to her death. They were due to abusive head trauma, likely to have occurred as a result of a shaking mechanism, a forceful impact to the left side of the head, or a combination of both. In layman’s terms, Kyle shook Lola and bashed her head into something solid.
Prosecutor Rees acknowledged that Kyle covered up his actions with multiple excuses, but she argued that Sinead should have been well aware of the risk of violence Kyle posed. As a mother, it was her job to protect Lola, but Sinead did nothing.
The jury deliberated for 10 hours. On April 4th, they found Kyle guilty of murder and Sinead guilty of causing or allowing Lola’s death. At the sentencing hearing on April 25th, Lola’s grandmother and father both gave impact statements. Nicola addressed Kyle directly, saying, “You killed my Lola and you have broken her family. I hope with the time you have now, you can understand what you have done. Lola’s clothes still hang in the wardrobe and her toys are still in the cupboard, but she is no longer here.” She also told the court she lives with constant regret because she felt ill in the night her granddaughter needed her the most.
Daniel grieved the life Lola would never get to live. He said, “As a parent, all I could hope for was that Lola would continue to grow with happiness and health, with the courage in her heart to know she could be anything and do anything she wanted. But that will never be. I will never get to meet my daughter as a teenager or a woman. All I have left are memories of a beautiful baby and dreams of the child she can never become.”
Before Justice Griffiths handed down their sentences, he considered mitigating factors, such as the possibility that Sinead was afraid of Kyle. But he ultimately determined she was not. The messages between the two didn’t indicate fear; instead, she showed she was in control and able to leave when she wanted. She had the support of friends, neighbors, and family. Even with other options, the judge said, she consistently prioritized the relationship with Kyle Bevan over concern for her children. For her crime, he sentenced Sinead to 6 years in prison. She must serve 3 years before becoming eligible for release on license, which is similar to what we would call parole.
Justice Griffiths noted Kyle’s lack of remorse. He said Kyle started to hurt Lola at midnight and he carried on until she was unconscious at 6:30 a.m. Because this sustained, deliberate, and violent attack was completely unprovoked and carried out against a vulnerable child, he sentenced Kyle to life in prison. He must serve a minimum of 28 years before possible release on license.
Sinead also lost custody of her surviving children, although she remained in contact with them. Her mother, Nicola, said she hopes Sinead gets the help she needs while behind bars.
Lola’s funeral was held in St. David and St. Patrick Catholic Church in Haverfordwest on September 15th, 2020. After the service, her pink and white casket was taken to the cemetery by horse and carriage. The route through town was announced: down Captain James Hill, through Front Street and North Road, across Marble Hall. The family asked the community to watch the procession and encouraged them to clap, cheer, or let off a balloon to celebrate Lola’s life. She was buried at Thornton Cemetery. The citizens of Haverfordwest were deeply saddened.
