Mother told police ‘I failed her’ after boyfriend murdered her two-year-old daughter, court hears 

A crying mother told police ‘I failed her’ after her boyfriend killed her two-year-old daughter in a brutal attack, a murder trial in Wales heard today. 

Sinead James, 30, sobbed as she told a jury she never thought her partner Kyle Bevan, 31, would kill her daughter Lola James.

A court heard she saw Bevan ‘smashing up the house’ with a hammer in the weeks before Lola’s death but she allowed him to stay in the home.

Bevan denies murdering little Lola and claimed the family dog pushed her down the stairs in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

James said she was asleep at the time of the alleged attack – and told police she had no reason to think Bevan would hurt her daughter.

Swansea Crown Court heard James attempted to carry out domestic violence checks on Bevan using Clare’s Law just one day before the attack.

But Bevan refused to give his partner his date of birth – and said: ‘I don’t have to give it to you. They won’t find anything on me.’

Giving evidence, James said: ‘It was the day before this tragic thing happened to my daughter. It’s like he planned it.

‘He refused to give me his date of birth. I was a bit worried why he wouldn’t co-operate with doing it but I went to the park with Lola and my auntie and forgot about it.

‘If I knew he was a risk I could have got him out of the house. I never ever thought he would hurt my child.’

The court heard James was interviewed by police after Lola was rushed to hospital on July 17, 2020 with 101 surface injuries and a catastrophic brain injury.

She told officers: ‘I know I failed her. I wish I could turn back time and never meet him.’

The court heard the pair met on Facebook in February 2020 before Bevan started staying at the home just days later.

James said Bevan told her he used to be a ‘spice head’ while also confessing to taking amphetamines, tranquilliser Xanax and cannabis.

She described herself as a ‘little sheep’ trying to avoid confrontation and told the jury Bevan promised to ‘protect’ her from her ex-partner.

She said: ‘That’s the sort of person I am. I will trust someone until they give me a reason not to. He wasn’t like everyone else.

‘He got me to trust him and then he killed my child. ‘

Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said James knew Bevan had a ‘nasty and violent temper’ but she chose to ‘prioritise her relationship’ over her daughter’s safety.

James previously told the jury: ‘I didn’t see it as a domestic violence relationship until it was too late and my daughter was rushed to hospital.

‘I never thought he would kill my child, never in a million years. He is a monster.’

Bevan failed to call an ambulance immediately after the alleged attack and instead filmed a ‘disturbing 22 second film’ of seriously injured Lola as he tried to prop her up.

A jury heard James had been referred to an independent domestic violence advisor months earlier to help spot the signs of abusers.

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

The trial continues.