Teenage killer named for first time

THE teenage killer of innocent schoolboy Logan Mwangi was yesterday named for the first time following an application from the media after the three murderers were locked up for a combined 72 years.

Ever since he first appeared in court charged with Logan’s murder, killer Craig Mulligan has been anonymised in media reporting.

The identity of the 14-year-old, who was just 13 at the time of the killing, was protected by a court order under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 due to the defendant being under 18 years old and legally considered a juvenile.

This prevented the publication of his name, address, identity of school or educational establishment he attended, any place of work, or a still or moving image of him.

Once the guilty verdict had been delivered by the jury, an application was made by representatives of the media to revoke the Section 45 order.

This was then put back to be dealt with at the same time as the sentencing hearing.

Following the sentencing of Cole, Williamson and Mulligan, the trial judge agreed to this application due to the serious nature of the conviction and Mulligan’s identity could be reported.

During a hearing yesterday prior to the sentencing of the defendants, Jude Bunting QC, representing the media organisations which had sought to challenge the restriction remaining in force, said maintaining the order amounted to a “substantial and unreasonable” restriction on reporting the case.

Mr Bunting said the court needed to exercise judgement on the impact on the privacy and welfare of Mulligan in coming to its decision, with “great weight” attached to that, but added the “danger” of overlooking open justice had to be avoided.

He argued there was a threshold of “absolute necessity” for anonymity and referred to other cases where criminals under the age of 18 had been identified after being convicted of serious offences.

John Hipkin QC, representing Mulligan, said it was a “balancing exercise” and argued there was a real risk both to the defendant’s safety and also his prospects of rehabilitation if he was named.

Delivering her conclusion in respect of the reporting restriction covering Craig Mulligan, the judge, Mrs Justice Jefford, said: “This was a very serious offence involving a brutal and ferocious assault on a small child in the home where he should have been safe. [Mulligan’s] involvement was in my view significant.”

Logan died just a week after Mulligan came to live at Lower Llansantffraid after the family courts awarded custody of the teenager to Cole.