Beckenham killer Kane Boyce dies in prison after 6 years

Paula Newman was 20 when her “obsessive and violent” partner Kane Boyce murdered her in a row over her Facebook password. 

Boyce, who was 13 years older than Paula, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years in 2015. 

It has now been revealed that Boyce died in prison on October 3, 2021, the day after his 41st birthday.   

He was found ligatured and unresponsive in his cell but an inquest jury found he did not intentionally take his own life. 

A coroner said that multiple failures by prison staff probably contributed to his death. 

Paula’s sister-in-law, Lauren, speaking on behalf of the family, told the News Shopper: “When we found out Kane was dead there was so much anger. He hadn’t even done a third of his sentence.” 

“Controlling, obsessive and violent" 

On November 12, 2013, Boyce murdered Paula by punching her, kicking her and stamping on her head in New Addington.

In 2015 a jury at the Old Bailey were told this was because she had stopped him from reading her online messages. 

Boyce later claimed she had fallen out of his BMW but a judge dismissed this as "a tissue of lies".

He admitted manslaughter but denied murder. A jury found him guilty of murder.

Boyce, who lived on Aviemore Close in Beckenham, had been in a relationship with Paula for seven months. 

Paula had learning difficulties which made her even more vulnerable, and Boyce was over a decade older than her and a foot taller. 

Paula's family described her as beautiful, kind, fun and caring (Image: Supplied)Lauren said: “I think she thought she’d found her Prince Charming. But all of a sudden it changed from a fairy tale to a nightmare and by that time it was too far to get her out. He had got his claws into her.” 

He was described as "controlling, obsessive and violent" during the trial.

The court heard that Boyce had a history of violence towards women, especially his former partners. 

Some of this had led to convictions for assault but most of his victims were too scared to take things further with police, the trial had been told. 

Lauren said: “After her death we heard from people who said they were scared of Kane. He was a drug dealer and he was violent. 

“Anyone who knew him before Paula knew he had been violent towards several previous girlfriends. Unfortunately we didn’t know any of that.”   

Since Paula’s death, her family have tried to promote Clare’s Law – a domestic violence disclosure scheme which enables police to disclose an offender’s history of abusive behaviour to their partners. 

"Paula wasn't aware of it and this could save lives in the future. Kane definitely went under the radar with his history of violence and there was a catalogue of events where he beat and controlled women," Laura said.

"It's just so heart-breaking that it took Paula's death for people to finally open up about who Kane really was.

"He was obviously very very good at manipulating and lying to people. The ultimate truth is that he was a monster."

Kane’s death 

When Paula’s family were told about Kane’s death in prison, Lauren said the immediate feeling was of anger. 

He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years but died six years into the sentence. 

“Paula’s brothers felt like they’d been cheated out of that time. They fought hard to get justice and then he couldn’t even do a third of the time,” she said. 

A coroner has raised concerns about Kane’s death after an inquest found that multiple failures by prison staff probably contributed to his death. 

Kane Boyce died at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire (Image: Met Police)On October 2, 2021, he was celebrating his 41st and was drinking prison brewed ‘hooch’ - which is particularly dangerous because the potency of the alcohol cannot be determined.

Staff suspected he was under the influence of alcohol but did not follow the prison’s under the influence policy 

He was left unobserved for over an hour and a half while intoxicated and officers ignored him pressing his cell bell to get their attention. 

Kane was found unresponsive at 1.49am on October 3 and was pronounced dead shortly after. 

An inquest jury found that Kane did not intentionally take his own life and that multiple failures by prison staff probably contributed to his death.   

At the time of Kane’s death, HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire was run by Serco, a private company. Serco did not make any admissions of failings in relation to Kane’s death at the inquest.   

A coroner expressed concerns about “a number of issues which continue to pose a risk of death to prisoners at the prison in the future." 

A prevention of future deaths report called on the prison’s new private provider, Sodexo, to take action.