Child killer Kyle Bevan 'looked asleep' after stabbing at HMP Wakefield, prison officer tells murder trial

A child killer, stabbed 25 times in his prison cell, "looked like he was sleeping" when staff went to check on him the next morning, a jury has been told.

Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 57, and David Taylor, 64, who are on trial at Leeds Crown Court, deny murdering 33-year-old Kyle Bevan at high-security HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Bevan was serving a life sentence, with a minimum term of 28 years for murdering his stepdaughter, when he was killed on 4 November last year.

Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, showed the jurors CCTV footage of Bevan entering his cell, followed by the three defendants who, he said, left less than five minutes later.

He added the trio emerged displaying "something of a satisfied, job-done mood".

He was not discovered until the following morning when it was found he had bled to death after a series of stab wounds, some penetrating his jugular vein, aorta and heart.

Mr Pitter told the jury there was "probably more than one weapon".

Bevan, originally from Aberystwyth, was jailed after murdering two-year-old Lola James in Pembrokeshire in 2020.

At Bevan's trial, the court heard she had suffered 101 separate injuries to her body.

On Thursday, prison officer Justin Barrett described finding Bevan's body after intelligence emerged from another prisoner, "that there was something wrong with Bevan".

He told the court: "I opened his [prison door] flap and checked - to me it looked like he was sleeping.

"He was lying on his stomach with his head facing the side… From the distance I couldn't quite see his face but I could just see his head tilting.

"He was lying on his stomach, his leg was off the bed, his head was turned my way, to the left... He looked like he was asleep."

Mr Barrett said he opened the cell door and shouted Bevan's name before grabbing his foot and giving it a shake when he failed to respond.

"I could see the blood around his neck. His body was very stiff as I lifted him… From what I could see, he did appear to be dead," he added.

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Asked what Bevan was like, Mr Barrett said: "He was very reserved, kept himself to himself most of the time. Didn't cause many issues with the officers, just did his own thing."

Mr Pitter told the jury that all three defendants were serving sentences for separate murders, and Taylor had boasted about his ability to make makeshift weapons, some of which were found in his cell but not linked to the killing.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, was adjourned until Friday.

(c) Sky News 2026: Child killer Kyle Bevan 'looked asleep' after stabbing at HMP Wakefield, prison office