The bereft grandmother of a murdered toddler faced down the little girl's killer in court and told him he had "broken" her family. Brave Nicola James, gran of two-year-old Lola James, read out a powerful victim impact statement in court as killer Kyle Bevan, the partner of Lola's mother Sinead James, was jailed for life with a minimum of 28 years.
The little girl's mother was jailed for six years for causing or allowing the death of a child after she chose "to prioritise her relationship with him over her own daughter’s physical safety", Swansea Crown Court heard. You can recap the sentencing in full here.
During Tuesday's hearing Nicola James went into the witness box and said she thinks about her granddaughter, who was murdered in July 2020, every single day and will never come to terms with the loss of her "cheeky monkey". Heartbreakingly Ms James said she blames herself for what happened and wonders why she couldn’t see what was going on.
