Life for ‘brutal’ pair who killed Logan, 5
THE mother and stepfather of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, whose battered body was found dumped in a river, have been jailed for life for his murder.
John Cole, 40, was told he would spend at least 29 years behind bars, while Angharad Williamson, 31, will serve a minimum of 28 years.
Logan’s stepbrother Craig Mulligan, 14, was detained for a minimum of 15 years after also being found guilty of Logan’s murder when Mulligan was 13.
The trio were convicted of killing the little boy in Sarn, Bridgend, South Wales, in April, following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Passing sentence yesterday, Mrs Justice Jefford said: “Shortly before Logan’s death, at which time he was three feet five inches and weighed only three stone one pound, he was subjected to a brutal attack.”
The judge described the injuries Logan had suffered and added: “Inflicting these injuries on a small, defenceless five-yearold is nothing short of horrific.”
Both Williamson and Mulligan were convicted of a further charge of perverting the course of justice - an offence Cole had admitted before trial.
Logan, a previously “smiling, cheerful little boy”, was discovered in the River Ogmore in Pandy Park, on the morning of July 31, 2021.
Police found him partially submerged, wearing dinosaur pyjama bottoms and a Spider-man top, just 250 metres from his home.
The youngster had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises and “catastrophic” internal injuries, which were likened to a high-speed road accident.
Experts said the injuries could have only been caused by a “brutal and sustained assault” in the hours, or days, prior to his death. They also said the injuries were “consistent with child abuse”.
In the months and weeks leading up to his death, Logan had been “dehumanised” by his family, prosecutors said. Logan was said to have wet himself more frequently and began self-harming.
Friends of the couple said Cole told them he did not like Logan.
Medics made a safeguarding referral to the police after Logan suffered a broken arm in August 2020.
A foster family whom Mulligan stayed with claimed to have heard him say he wanted to kill Logan and a support worker also heard him singing: “I love to punch kids in the head, it’s orgasmic.”
Weeks before he died, Logan suffered a broken collarbone, but he never got medical treatment.
By March, due to concerns over Cole’s behaviour, Logan and his younger sibling had been assigned their own social worker.
In June, a month before Logan died, the family were removed from the child protection register - meaning it was believed there was no longer a risk of significant harm.
Mrs Justice Jefford said of her decision to allow Mulligan’s identity to be revealed despite his age: “There is a clear reason in the interests of open justice and the proper reporting of this trial and sentencing that the reporting restrictions should be lifted.”