Three inmates have been handed whole-life prison terms for the murder of convicted child killer Kyle Bevan inside a high-security prison in the UK.
Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 57, and David Taylor, 64, were sentenced after being found guilty of killing Bevan at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire in November 2025. Bevan, 33, was serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of two-year-old Lola James in Pembrokeshire in 2020.
The court heard that the three men followed Bevan into his prison cell before carrying out a planned attack using improvised weapons fashioned from prison materials. Prosecutors said the assault lasted several minutes and was carried out with extreme violence.
After the killing, the attackers arranged Bevan’s body in his bed to make it appear as though he was asleep before leaving the cell. He was not discovered until the following morning after prison staff received information from another inmate. Jurors heard that the defendants harboured hostility towards prisoners convicted of offences against children. Prosecutors said the three men targeted Bevan because of the nature of his crime.
CCTV footage presented in court showed Bevan entering his cell moments before Fellows, Newell and Taylor followed him inside. Evidence also revealed that Taylor had previously boasted about his ability to manufacture makeshift weapons in prison.
The court heard that prison staff later recovered improvised weapons from Taylor’s cell, although investigators could not conclusively link them to the fatal attack. All three defendants were already serving lengthy prison sentences. Taylor received his first whole-life order, while Fellows and Newell were each given additional whole-life terms on top of sentences they were already serving.
Senior investigating officer Chief Inspector James Entwistle described the killing as a “premeditated brutal attack” carried out by three long-term inmates. “Fellows, Taylor and Newell’s actions showed a complete disregard for life and for the rules designed to keep people safe in custody,” he said.
He added that the convictions demonstrate that serious offences committed inside prisons will be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, stressing that correctional facilities must remain safe environments despite housing dangerous offenders. The case has renewed scrutiny of prisoner management at HMP Wakefield after evidence during the trial revealed that vulnerable inmates were not separated from the general prison population at the time of the attack.