Grandma pays emotional tribute to 2-year-old girl ‘killed by her stepfather in a fit of rage’ at trial

A grandmother has paid an emotional tribute to a two-year-old girl who was allegedly killed by her stepfather while he was in a fit of rage.

Nicola James recounted how two-year-old Lola James “loved life” before she was found with 101 injuries, in a murder trial hearing today.

Kyle Bevan, 31, is accused of murdering the girl after moving in with her mother, Sinead James, who is accused of failing to protect her daughter.

Lola’s grandmother, Nicola, said: “He was a cheeky monkey, in everything.” She loved the garden and being covered in mud. She only attracted dirt.

‘She loved everything. She just loved life. She was so independent. She was just amazing, a character. She was 100 mph like all of them.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees asked: ‘Did you find it difficult to handle?’

She replied: ‘No. We used to go to the garden first thing in the morning and she was in charge. We just had fun times.

Nicola said that Bevan “acted like a big tough man” and was “hit or miss”.

He was asked about his thoughts on Bevan after Mrs Rees asked: “Did you get along with Kyle?”

She said: ‘He acted like the big tough man he wasn’t. He would be argumentative. His moods weren’t predictable.

Bevan claimed that Lola suffered her injuries after the family pet dog knocked her down the stairs.

Expert witness Ian Simmons, a consultant pediatric ophthalmologist, said: “It is highly unlikely that they were caused by a fall down 10 carpeted stairs.”

“The most likely cause of his injuries is a form of abusive head trauma, possibly with some type of impact.”

Earlier, the court heard the two-year-old scream that she “didn’t want to go home”, just days before she was killed by her stepfather, a murder trial was heard.

Lola pleaded with her mother’s best friend that she didn’t want to come home to her stepfather Bevan.

The court heard that friend Casey Morgan urged mother Sinead James, 30, to leave her “angry and aggressive” partner in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Giving evidence, Ms Morgan said that James repeatedly left Lola with her while Bevan was taking drugs and acting aggressively inside the house.

Ms Morgan said: ‘Sinead’s house was dirty and horrible. Lola didn’t want to go home. She was screaming that she didn’t want to go home.

The court heard that Miss Morgan made several attempts to get James to leave Bevan before he turned up at her house “foaming at the mouth”.

She said: ‘I told Sinead that I wouldn’t get Lola back until she got rid of him.

I said that if Sinead didn’t get rid of him, he would hurt her. Something bad is going to happen to Sinead.

The court heard that James had brought Lola to Ms Morgan’s home on the night of May 14, 2020, just two months before the attack.

Ms Morgan said she received a call from her friend with “shock” in the background and knew she needed to meet with her immediately.

She said: ‘She called me. She said you have to come look for Lola. She seemed scared. She was crying. She could hear a commotion.

‘I knew I had to go. I knew I had to put my shoes on and I had to go.

“When I met her, she told me that she was vandalizing the house and that she had flipped a light switch and it was off. She said that he was going crazy. He was losing his way.

‘I was mad at Sinead because she didn’t stay at my house and settle Lola down. She just left and got on with him.

James, from Neyland, denies causing or allowing the death of a child. Bevan, from Aberystwyth, denies the murder.

The trial, due to the last four weeks, continues.