News

Mother and her ‘monster’ partner jailed over two-year-old murder

Published

3 years ago

April 25, 2023

THE PAIR found guilty of causing the death of two-year-old Lola James have today (Apr 25) been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court.

Kyle Bevan, 31, was found guilty of murdering Lola by inflicting catastrophic head injuries during a ‘frenzied, brutal and violent attack’ during an incident at the tots home in Princess Royal Way, Haverfordwest on July 17, 2020.

Sinead James, 30, Lola’s mother, was asleep upstairs when the attack happened.

James was found guilty of allowing or causing the death of a child by failing to protect Lola from her ‘volatile and unpredictable’ partner.

The pair were found unanimously guilty by a jury of their peers on April 4, following a four week trial.

At today’s sentencing hearing, Caroline Rees KC for the Crown Prosecution Service told the court that according to sentencing guidelines, Bevan should be sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 15 years, however asked the court to take into account the major aggravating features which would suggest a very significant increase in the minimum term.

She said: “As a starting point alone on count 1, murder, is that of 15 years.

“Whilst we make that submission, by no means is that the end point in this case.

” The serious features of this offence, would merit a very significant uplift”

Ms Rees KC went on to tell the court that they must consider the fact that Lola was a very young child at the time of the incident, just two years and 10 months, was extremely vulnerable and the totality of injuries inflicted on her tiny body.

Lola had multiple extensive internal head injuries and no less than 101 surface injuries on her body. During evidence in the trial, one peadiatrician described Lola as “one of the most battered and bruised bodies” she had ever seen.

Mr Hipkin KC, Bevan’s defence barrister offered no mitigation on behalf of his defendant and publicly agreed with the submission with the prosecution with regards to minimum term and accepted all three aggravating factors.

In terms of the sentencing for Lola’s mother, Sinead James, the prosecution asked the court to start at a minimum starting point of nine years imprisonment.

Ms Rees KC said it was the Crown’s submission that Domestic violence and the loss of her child should not be accepted by the court as a mitigating factor on whether to used as a reduction to any minimum term imposed by the court.

The prosecution argue that they put a case forward that would merit James’ care element at the highest sentencing category and the culpability element at the second highest.

This is refuted by Mr Elias KC, representing James. He told the court how although at first James had not considered the relationship one that would typically be described as a domestic violence relationship, James at least in the week leading up to Lola’s death had started to recognise the signs.

He described his client as being intimidated by Bevan, and was fearful over what he would do to her should she have called the police.

Judge His Honour Justice Griffiths, reminded counsel that during evidence given in the court, James had been seen being assertive with Bevan and did not seem to be in fear.

Judge His Honour Justice Griffiths said: “Lola was described by her grandmother as a character who loved life

“Her father said she was always smiling and a ray of sunshine and a laugh that could fill a room with pure joy.

“You Kyle Bevan murdered her when she was only 2 years old and you Sinead James allowed her death. You have shattered a family and the life of her sisters.”

His Honor continued: “He started to hurt Lola at midnight and carried on until Lola was unconscious at 6.30am.

“This was a sustained, deliberate and very violent attack. The attack was completely unprovoked.

“For some of the injuries Kyle Bevan used weapons.

“It would of caused emotional and physical pain before her coma.

“I am sure Kyle Bevan did this as an exercise of power, of some superior power on the only person he could, that of an innocent child.

“He has no remorse at all, even now.”

When speaking on the sentence for Sinead James, His Honor Judge Justice Griffiths said: “She prioritised her relationship with Kyle bevan over the safety of her children, this was evident when she went back to bed when Kyle Bevan first attacked Lola at midnight.

“Chronology shows Sinead James was made aware of multiple injuries to her children leaving visible marks.

“She knew he had taken hammer to light switch, he was subject to mood swings, he was known to take recreational drugs that had an affect on him.

She always brought the children back and kept leaving them in his sole care.

“When they were injured she did not take them to doctor of hospital or disclose to police when Kyle Bevan was violent.

“She failed to take any effective steps to protect Lola.

“Even though she had proved she could do so.”

Bevan was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 28 years. However Judge His Honor Justice Griffiths warned he may never be released.

James was sentenced to six years in prison, she will serve half in prison with the remaining sentence on licence.

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

5 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

6 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.