Kyle Bevan was found dead in his cell at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in November 2023 having been stabbed 25 times, Leeds Crown Court has been told – three men are on trial for murder
A convicted murderer was overheard shouting ‘nice working with you and the Iceman’ following the discovery of a child killer’s stabbed body in prison, a jury has been told.
Convicted murderers Mark ‘The Iceman’ Fellows, 45, David Taylor, 64, and Lee Newall, 57, all deny the murder of 33-year-old Kyle Bevan in HMP Wakefield, who was found dead with 25 stab wounds in his cell in the high-security prison.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Bevan was serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of his stepchild in 2023, and was classified as a ‘vulnerable prisoner’ in the jail, where tensions existed between such prisoners and the general population.
Prosecutors claim the three defendants worked together, entering Bevan’s cell and stabbing him with an improvised weapon or weapons. Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, suggested the alleged murder may have been motivated by a desire to be transferred.
Pitter stated that when Taylor was being transferred out of the prison, a nurse allegedly heard him shout, in Newell’s vicinity, ‘nice working with you and the Iceman’, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Pitter told jurors: “Iceman being a nickname for Fellows. What was the work that they had done together with the Iceman? We say that was the killing of Bevan and them operating together to do so.” The jury also heard allegations that Taylor had referred to Fellows as the ‘Wakefield Dexter’. As he laid out the case for the prosecution, Mr Pitter presented CCTV footage which he claimed showed the defendants entering Bevan’s cell in the prison, one after another.
Mr Pitter stated: “The prosecution say they followed him in there with real purpose. This case is about what that purpose was. He was stabbed 25 times around the neck and body with a sharp weapon.
“They then left him for dead, one by one. But not before putting him to bed. Not our phrase, but a phrase we anticipate you will hear later in the evidence.
“Leaving him as if asleep. There it was that he bled out, bled to death on his bed. His body was not discovered until the roll call in the prison the following morning.”
According to Mr Pitter, Bevan generally kept to himself and frequently stayed in his cell. Lee Newall was serving a life sentence for murder and was also being held on A wing, in cell 4 on landing two. Newall had expressed discontent with being at HMP Wakefield and had requested a transfer. He had also expressed dislike for vulnerable prisoners, the jury was told.
The jury heard that Mark Fellows was a category A prisoner serving a life sentence for two counts of murder and conspiracy to cause serious harm. He was also being held on A wing, in cell 5 on landing two.
Mr Pitter stated: “As soon Bevan left and made his way to his own cell the three defendants followed him in, only seconds behind. As we say, with real purpose.”
Mr Pitter went on to say: “That was the last that Bevan was to be seen alive. As we began, it was four minutes and 39 seconds later that those three left Bevan’s cell together, as if nothing had happened. Bevan did not. In short, while the three of them were in that cell with him, he was violently killed.
“That involved him being stabbed and injured over 30 times with at least one, and probably more than one, weapon. They had left him in such a way that he appeared to be asleep in his bed.” The prosecutor alleged the three defendants departed ‘as if nothing had happened’.
He further added: “Considering what had happened in that cell, you may conclude that there was something of a satisfied, job done mood amongst the three men which you will be able to discern from their actions in the few minutes after the fatal attack as they made their way back to their usual place on landing two.”
The jury heard that an item of Fellows’ clothing had been stained with blood and was discarded. Blood was found on Newell’s hands, the jurors were informed. Mr Pitter mentioned that Bevan was left ‘face down partially covered on his mattress’ and ‘left deliberately to look as if he was asleep’.
The prison was put into ‘lockdown’ after Bevan was discovered during the morning roll call on November 5. It was determined that Bevan had been dead for ‘some time’.
A pathologist discovered 25 stab wounds and ‘multiple other puncture wounds’. Mr Pitter revealed: “There were no real defensive injuries. Indicative of him not putting up any, or any real resistance to that knife attack. Unsurprising, as he was outnumbered.”
Mr Pitter disclosed that an improvised weapon, a ‘folded piece of metal from the back of a television fashioned into a point’, was discovered and found to have Bevan’s blood on it.
He added: “Further weapons were recovered secreted in a container of chilli sauce from Taylor’s cell. Those weapons could not be matched to the injuries but could not be scientifically excluded from having been used in the attack.”
The prosecution claimed that Taylor made several remarks following the alleged killing, including telling a police officer after being shown CCTV footage that it “could have been anyone”. Taylor also allegedly told the same officer that he could “make a shiv [an improvised weapon] out of all sorts”. Additionally, Mr Pitter said: “On his transfer out of the prison, he was heard to shout by a nurse in the vicinity of Newell ‘nice working with you and the Iceman’.
Fellows, Taylor and Newall all deny murder.