Child murderer stabbed more than 30 times - court

A child murderer was stabbed more than 30 times in his prison cell by fellow inmates, a trial has heard.

Mark Fellows, 45, David Taylor, 64, and Lee Newell, 57, are facing trial for the murder of 33-year-old Kyle Bevan at HMP Wakefield on 4 November last year.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court heard the men followed Bevan, who killed his partner's two-year-old daughter in Pembrokeshire in 2020, into his cell and left about four-and-a-half minutes later.

Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, said the defendants had "violently killed" him with at least one weapon and left him "in such a way, he appeared to be asleep in his bed".

Bevan bled to death and his body was discovered the following morning during roll call, with stab wounds to his chest and abdomen.

Pitter said each of the men had participated in the killing, "at the very least" by encouraging each other, and all had the intention to kill or cause serious harm to Bevan.

"He was stabbed and injured over 30 times, with at least one and probably more than one weapon," Pitter added.

"You may consider there was something of a 'satisfied, job done' mood among the three men [after the attack]," Pitter told the jury.

"Certainly, they remained entirely comfortable with each other... notwithstanding what had occurred."

The defendants disposed of an item of Fellows' clothing which had been stained with blood, Pitter said, and Newell had "blood physically on his hands".

"Metaphorically though, all three of them did," he added.

He said weapons had been found in Taylor's cell in a bottle of chilli sauce which, although not proved to be linked to the incident, showed he had "easy access" to weapons.

The jury heard that many prisoners, including Bevan, were considered vulnerable at the jail due to risk posed by other inmates.

There was "tension" between vulnerable prisoners, or "VPs", who made up about three quarters of the population, and other inmates, Pitter said.

There was also "bullying" of VPs, who tended to be those who had committed offences of "particular moral repugnancy", such as sex attacks or crimes against children.

But Pitter said Bevan "kept himself to himself" and was not known to be associated with the defendants in any way.

In 2023, he had been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of Lola James, two, in Haverfordwest.

She had suffered "catastrophic" brain injuries following a "brutal" assault from Bevan in her family home in July 2020.

The judge in his trial, Mr Justice Martin Griffiths, described his actions as "an assertion of superiority over the only person he could feel superior to - a helpless child".

Bevan's death came less than a month after paedophile singer Ian Watkins, 48, was fatally stabbed in the neck at the same prison.

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