Tragic Lola James, 2, called out ‘night mummy, love you’ just hours before ‘being murdered by her “monster” stepfather’
LOLA James called out "night mummy, love you" just hours before she was killed by her "monster" stepfather, a court heard.
The two-year-old died in hospital of "catastrophic" head trauma, having suffered 101 external injuries, four days after police were rushed to her Wales home in July 2020.
Lola's stepfather Kyle Bevan, 31, is on trial for her murder.
The tot's mother Sinead James, 30, has been charged with causing or allowing the death of a child.
The pair both deny the charges against them.
The Swansea Crown Court today heard from James, who sobbed as she described the final hours before Lola was rushed to hospital.
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As she gave evidence James dubbed her former boyfriend a "monster", and said he should "rot in hell".
The mother-of-three told the court she was woken by a "bang" and Lola's scream around midnight in the early hours of July 17, 2020.
James said she rushed through her Pembrokeshire home to find Bevan hugging her daughter in the tot's bedroom.
She said she could not see any visible injuries on her daughter.
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Giving evidence, James said she asked her boyfriend, who was sitting on the bottom bunk of Lola's bed: "What the f*** is going on?"
Bevan told her "I've got this" before James said goodnight to her daughter.
The court heard the youngster replied: "Night mummy, love you."
James then said just hours later she was awoken again - this time by Bevan.
She told the court: "Kyle was waking me up at 7.20am to say my daughter has fallen down the stairs. I got dressed and went downstairs.
"Lola was on the sofa and her head was swollen and her lips. Kyle told me she fell down the stairs."
James said she thought an ambulance had already been called for Lola, explaining: "I thought there was one on the way. I thought 'what's happened to my baby'.
"I didn't realise it would be this serious, I thought it was just a fall down the stairs."
She continued: "When I was on the phone to the ambulance or just before he said the dog pushed her down the stairs and barged her.
"The dog would usually be at the bottom of my bed. He said he had put his finger in her mouth the stop her fitting and he showed me something on his finger and said it was a bit of her tongue."
'ROT IN HELL'
She added: "I never thought he would kill my children, never in a million years, and he's a monster.
"I didn't realise it was so bad until my daughter got rushed to hospital.
"I have got to live with that every single day. I beat myself up every single day.
"He needs to rot in hell."
The court heard the couple had met through Facebook just five months earlier.
James told the court that Lola had suffered an injury eight days before her death when she was left alone with Bevan - but she said she had no concerns.
She said: "Kyle said the dog has knocked Lola off the sofa onto the coffee table.
"She had bruising on the top of her nose and under both of her eyes."
'LOVELY LITTLE GIRL'
The court heard she had witnessed Bevan "smashing up the house" in May 2020 after he flew into an alcohol and drugs-fuelled rage.
James said she had to shield her children by racing them to a friend's house - but she allowed him to continue living there.
The 30-year-old initially said that Bevan had never acted violently towards her or her children, apart from on one occasion where he bruised her arm after grabbing it while attempting to take her phone during an argument.
However, she later said he had pushed her youngest daughter's buggy into a busy road just weeks before Lola died, and recalled injuries her youngest two daughters had suffered after spending time with Bevan.
James said she believed his "excuses" each time, including claims that the family dog had caused bruising.
She said this was because Bevan was usually "really good" with her children, that he played with them and cooked them dinner.
James added that Lola had been accident-prone, regularly falling over and bruising her shins, and she had tried to get her tested for ADHD.
She cried as she described Lola, telling the court: "She was a lovely little girl.
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"She was full of beans - so cute and lively. I could not ask for a better daughter."
The trial continues.