Three prisoners accused of murdering child killer have first crown court hearing

Three prisoners accused of murdering a child killer who was found dead in his cell have made their first appearance before a crown court judge.

Kyle Bevan, 33, died on Wednesday at HMP Wakefield, where he was serving a minimum sentence of 28 years for murdering his partner’s two-year-old daughter, Lola James, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in 2020.

On Monday Mark Fellows, 45; Lee Newell, 56; and David Taylor, 63; appeared at Leeds Crown Court remotely.

The defendants were brought into a videolink room in the jail separately to be told by Judge Tom Bayliss KC that a trial date of June 2 had been set, and their next appearance at the same court would be on December 15, when they would be asked to enter pleas to the charge.

The court heard Fellows and Newell are currently serving whole-life orders.

Officers were called to the category A jail at 8.25am on Wednesday, West Yorkshire Police said.

Bevan was set to spend at least 28 years behind bars after inflicting catastrophic head injuries on Lola during a six-hour attack.

Her injuries were so severe they were likened by doctors to a high-speed car crash, with 101 scratches and bruises on her body and evidence of weapons being used.

The girl’s death came months after Bevan, a prolific drug user, moved into the home within days of connecting with Lola’s mother Sinead James on Facebook.

Bevan, from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, had denied murdering Lola but was convicted in 2023.

The incident comes less than a month after paedophile singer Ian Watkins was stabbed to death at the same prison.

Former Lostprophets frontman Watkins, 48, died from a stab wound to the neck at the prison, an inquest opening heard.

Inmates Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murdering him.

Two more men from the prison have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.