Three prisoners have been found guilty of murdering child killer Kyle Bevan in his cell at HMP Wakefield, where he was stabbed 25 times and left "tidily tucked up in bed." Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 57, and David Taylor, 64, were convicted after a jury at Leeds Crown Court deliberated for less than three hours. Bevan, 33, was serving a life sentence with a minimum of 28 years for murdering his partner's two-year-old daughter Lola James in Haverfordwest in 2020.
Attack Captured on CCTV
Chilling CCTV footage showed the three defendants following Bevan into his cell after 5.30pm on November 4, 2025, and emerging less than five minutes later in "a satisfied, job-done mood," prosecutors said. Bevan was "put to bed" after the attack and was not discovered until the following morning when prison staff were tipped off by an inmate that "something was wrong with Bevan." He had bled to death from 25 stab wounds caused by at least two different weapons.
Background of the Killers
David Taylor, 64, from County Durham, has been labeled one of the UK's most dangerous prisoners. He killed Bevan while awaiting sentence for the murder of 24-year-old Alisha Apostoloff-Boyarin and the attempted murder of a police detective. In July 2024, Taylor lunged at officers with a makeshift shank during an interview at HMP Frankland, seriously injuring Detective Constable Bratby with a wound that narrowly missed his heart.
Mark Fellows, known as "The Iceman," is a convicted hitman who received a whole-life order for the murders of Paul Massey in 2015 and John Kinsella in 2018. Both were targeted killings carried out with firearms in Salford and Merseyside. Fellows denied the charges but was found guilty in 2021.
Lee Newell, 57, is serving a whole-life sentence for two murders: his neighbor Mary Neal in Norwich in 1988 and fellow inmate Subhan Anwar at HMP Long Lartin in 2013. Prosecutors noted a "chilling similarity" between that killing and Bevan's death, as Newell had strangled Anwar and left him in his bed.
Kyle Bevan's Crime
Bevan murdered Lola James, his partner's two-year-old daughter, on July 17, 2020, in Haverfordwest. He inflicted injuries more commonly found in car crash victims, then searched online for head injuries and took photos of her limp body. He concocted a story blaming the family dog. Lola died four days later in hospital. Bevan was convicted of murder in 2023 and sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years.
Prison Context and Sentencing
The trial heard there was "a lot of tension" at HMP Wakefield, with two other serious attacks in the weeks before Bevan's death, including the stabbing of paedophile Ian Watkins. Vulnerable prisoners were not separated from others, and "main prisoners" like the defendants had to mix with those they considered beneath them. The three defendants expressed hostility towards child offenders. On Friday, Mrs Justice McGowan sentenced Fellows, Newell, and Taylor to whole-life orders for Bevan's murder, meaning they will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
