Lola James: Murder accused filmed limp body, court told

Lola James died at the Noah's Ark children's hospital on 21 July, 2020

A man accused of murdering a two-year-old girl while her mother slept recorded a video of her limp body, telling the camera "she's gone".

Lola James died in hospital on 21 July 2020 having suffered a "catastrophic" head injury and 101 external injuries.

In footage shown to jurors, Kyle Bevan, 31, from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, tries to make injured Lola stand before allowing her to fall to the floor.

He denies murdering her four months after moving in with Lola's mother.

Sinead James, 30, denies causing or allowing her death at the family home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told jurors at Swansea Crown Court the video was shot sometime after Mr Bevan carried out a "brutal and extremely violent physical assault" on Lola in the early hours of 17 July.

Taken on his propped-up phone, a topless Mr Bevan was seen lifting an unresponsive Lola and trying to place her on her feet and get her to stand.

He then lets her go and a thud can be heard as she falls to the ground.

Lola James was described in court as "happy" and "beautiful"

Mr 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."

He sent the video to his mother, Alison Bevan, a healthcare worker, who said she chose not to watch it.

In transcripts of messages shown to the jury, Ms Bevan urges her son to call the emergency services. Almost an hour later he messaged back asking her to call an ambulance.

The jury has been told about a catalogue of injuries to Lola while in Mr Bevan's care including extensive damage to both her eyes and brain injuries compared with those found in car crash victims.

Mr Bevan has claimed the family dog, an American bulldog called Jessie, caused Lola's injuries by pushing her down the stairs.

"If this really was an accident," Ms Rees said, "why was Kyle Bevan spending time staging a recording like this rather than doing everything he could to contact the emergency services?"

Lola's mother Sinead James is charged with causing or allowing her death

The court heard that Facebook messages between the couple showed Lola had suffered a series of injuries in the months leading up to her death, including a bloodied nose, a grazed chin and a split lip.

Following the last injury Mr Bevan sent a message to Lola's mum claiming the toddler had fallen off her bed.

Casey Morgan, a close friend of Ms James, testified about incidents before Lola's death.

She said on 7 July she saw Mr Bevan push a pram into the road outside her house with another child still in it.

Sobbing, she recounted how her friend asked to come over to her house but said Mr Bevan arrived first.

"He was foaming by the mouth, his eyes were huge, he didn't look good," Ms Morgan said. "He was aggressive and it was really scary."

She said Ms James arrived with Lola looking "petrified".

The day Lola was taken to hospital, Ms Morgan said she got a message from her friend saying "something's happened to Lola".

When she arrived at her friend's house she said Mr Bevan was holding on to his hair in the kitchen saying, "it's all my fault, it's all my fault", adding "they're going to pin it on me".

The jury was shown messages between the two defendants, sent while Lola was in hospital, in which Mr Bevan insisted the pair relay the same story to the police about what happened.

Mr Bevan wrote their accounts needed to be "bang on".

The previous owner of the family dog, Coral Barker, said the American bulldog had not been aggressive with her four young children, calling her a "nanny dog", adding she liked "cuddles and fusses".

When cross-examined by John Hipkin KC, defending Mr Bevan, he asked Ms Barker: "Do you know where Jessie is now?"

Ms Barker said: "She was put to sleep a couple of months ago."

Mr Hipkin said: "Was that because she injured someone."

Ms Barker replied: "Yes, apparently."

The trial continues.