Three prisoners have been charged with the murder of a child killer at the same notorious jail where Ian Watkins was stabbed to death.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed that prisoners Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 56, and David Taylor, 63, have each been charged with the murder of Kyle Bevan, 33, at HMP Wakefield.
Officers were called to the prison at around 8.25am on Wednesday after reports that an inmate had been found dead in his cell. Police said the man’s death was being treated as ‘suspicious’.
The Prison Service also confirmed that the man killed was Bevan, who was serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his partner’s two-year-old daughter Lola James in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in 2020.
Bevan had been ordered to serve at least 28 years behind bars after a court heard how he subjected the toddler to a horrific six-hour assault that left her with catastrophic head injuries.
Lola’s wounds were so severe they were compared by doctors to those suffered in a high-speed car crash.
The little girl had 101 scratches and bruises across her body, with evidence suggesting weapons had been used during the prolonged attack.
The court was told Bevan — a prolific drug user from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion — had moved into the home within days of meeting Lola’s mother, Sinead James, on Facebook.
He denied murder but was found guilty last year following a harrowing trial.
Kyle Bevan, 31, who killed his stepdaughter in 2020, has been found dead in prison
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘HMP Wakefield prisoner Kyle Bevan’s death was confirmed on 5 November.
‘We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.’
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.
A reliable source told the Daily Mail that Bevan was discovered in bed dead on Wednesday morning with head and throat injuries.
‘We think he was already dead last night, but was tucked up in bed and when they did the lock–up cell check they thought he was asleep,’ said the source.
Subsequent examination of CCTV revealed other prisoners going to and leaving Bevan’s cell just before lights out, according to the source.
The Prison Service confirmed his identity on Wednesday evening.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘HMP Wakefield prisoner Kyle Bevan’s death was confirmed on 5 November.
‘We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.’
Two–year–old Lola James (pictured) was killed by Kyle Bevan after the toddler’s mother failed to protect her following months of abuse
James (pictured) was a victim of domestic abuse and had been educated twice on how to spot signs of an abuser, but she chose to prioritise her relationship with Bevan over her child’s safety, the court heard previously
HMP Wakefield is a category A men’s prison, housing more than 600 inmates including several high–profile, high–risk offenders.
Following a visit in June, inspectors described it as a ‘prison under strain’.
Their report said: ‘Levels of violence had increased, and many prisoners did not feel safe.’
It added: ‘Many prisoners told us they felt unsafe, particularly older men convicted of sexual offences who increasingly shared the prison with a growing cohort of younger prisoners.’
In April 2023, Bevan, then 31, was given a minimum 28–year sentence after the court heard that Lola James’s body was the ‘most battered and bruised child’ one doctor had ever seen.
The self–confessed ‘spice head’ who also took amphetamines, tranquilliser Xanax and cannabis, attacked Lola after the toddler’s mother failed to protect her.
James, 30, who allowed Bevan to move into her home within days of meeting him on Facebook and four months before Lola died, was jailed for six years.
Bevan was convicted of murder while James was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child – having allowed him to continue looking after Lola despite her suffering previous injuries.