Child killer left ‘tucked up in bed’ after being stabbed to death in prison cell | UK | News
Kyle Bevan stabbed 25 times during attack (Image: PA)
Three prisoners have been found guilty of murdering a child killer who was stabbed to death in his cell and left “neatly curled up in bed”. Kyle Bevan was stabbed 25 times during an attack by convicted murderers Mark Fellows, Lee Newell and David Taylor at high-security HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
Bevan, 33, was serving a life sentence with a minimum sentence of 28 years for the murder of his partner’s two-year-old daughter Lola James in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in 2020. Prosecutors said the three defendants were seen on CCTV following Bevan to his cell after 5.30pm on November 4 and emerging less than five minutes later in a “satisfied, done-with-it mood”. Following the attack he was “put to bed” and was not discovered until the next morning when prison staff were tipped off by an inmate that “something was wrong with Bevan”. It was determined that he died from blood loss after 25 stab wounds caused by at least two different weapons. On Thursday, Fellows, 45, Newell, 57, and Taylor, 64, were found guilty of murdering Bevan after the jury at Leeds Crown Court deliberated for less than three hours.
David Taylor, 64, (Image: Greater Manchester Police)
The hearing heard there was “a lot of tension in the prison at the time” and that there were two other serious assaults in the weeks leading up to Bevan’s death; One of them is that pedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was stabbed to death, and the other is that David Minto, who killed 16-year-old Sasha Marsden in Blackpool in 2013, was seriously injured.
Jurors heard that unlike other prisons, vulnerable prisoners were not separated from other inmates at Wakefield.
Prosecutors said at the time that the regime meant “main inmates” such as Fellows, Newell and Taylor “had to mix with other criminals, such as child murderers, who were below them in a distorted moral hierarchy”.
The court heard that the three defendants expressed hostility towards people who committed crimes against children and that Fellows and Newell had expressed desire to be removed from Wakefield.
In his closing argument during the trial, prosecutor Jason Pitter KC said Newell, who was sentenced to life in prison, had previously strangled a prisoner who had killed a child and left him in his bed, telling jurors there was a “chilling similarity to this and the death of Kyle Bevan”.
Known as “Wakefield Dexter”, Fellows had previously committed two murders “to eliminate those he opposed or disliked” and had made a formal application to move from Wakefield shortly before Bevan’s murder due to his dissatisfaction with the regime there.
Trio convicted of murdering child killer (Image: MEN Media)
Taylor had recently been transferred to Wakefield in connection with the murder of a colleague and the attempted murder of a police officer in custody, to which he pleaded guilty.
The court heard Taylor boasted of his ability to make makeshift weapons of “all kinds” and that some of the weapons were found in a bottle of pepper sauce in his cell after Bevan’s death, although they could not be matched to the fatal attack.
Jurors were told Bevan “hid by himself” and mostly stayed in his cell, often wanting to stay locked inside.
On the day of his death, security cameras showed him walking towards his cell, followed by the three defendants who left him just seconds behind. Taylor could be seen pulling something from her waistband as she walked in.
Summing up the case to jurors, judge Mrs Justice McGowan said: “We don’t know who did what in the cell. The fatal injuries must have been caused by at least one person. At least two weapons were used… it appears (Bevan) was probably held by his arms.”
“He was stabbed multiple times on both sides of his neck and the front of his body.”
High security HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire (Image: PA)
“You have to make sure (all three defendants) are at least part of the group, even if it’s just to help or encourage in some way, even if it’s just by blocking the door or standing watch,” he told jurors.
The court heard the three defendants left the cell less than five minutes later “as if nothing had happened”. They were seen shaking hands and congratulating each other.
It was seen that Newell was injured in his hand, and Fellows rolled up his sweatpants after noticing blood on him and then threw them away.
Jurors heard that a gun made from a folded piece of metal behind the television was thrown from Bevan’s cell and was found on the ground outside. It had Bevan’s blood on it. The weapon that caused fatal injuries was not found.
The trial was heard Taylor shouting around Newell as he was transferred from Wakefield: “It was nice working with you and the Iceman” – Fellows’ nickname.
None of the defendants answered questions during their police interviews or gave evidence during the trial.
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Before sending jurors to consider their verdicts, Mrs Justice McGowan said: “This case concerns the death of Kyle Bevan.
“This is not about whether mixing vulnerable prisoners with core prisoners is a good way to run a prison.
“The issue is not whether these defendants or anyone else has an opinion on how those who commit crimes against children should be punished.
“No one has the right to kill another person because they disapprove of what they are doing or because they hate them. This is a pretty basic proposition in a civilized society.”
The three defendants will be sentenced on Friday.
