Mum, stepdad and teen guilty of murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi

A five-year-old boy was murdered by his mum, his stepdad and a teenager, a jury has ruled.

Logan Mwangi was found dead in a river in Wales on the morning of July 31 last year, with 56 separate injures to his body including a torn liver caused by a vicious blow to the stomach.

Today, John Cole, Angharad Williamson and a 14-year-old youth have been found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court of murdering him.

While she was being led away, Williamson shouted to Cole: ‘You lying motherf**king murderer.’

The child was found in the River Ogmore in Pandy Park, Bridgend, close to where the couple lived.

Ex-work colleagues claimed dad-of-two Cole was linked to the National Front and may have killed Logan because of his skin colour.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees told the court: ‘He would call Logan Coco Pop. He was a child of mixed race and it is relevant to a dehumanising attitude towards Logan and treating him differently to other children in the house.’

Ms Rees said there was evidence Cole held ‘long standing racist beliefs’ which could have been ‘relevant to his motives’ in the attacks on Logan.

Police officers found him partially submerged wearing a pair of dinosaur pyjama bottoms and a Spider-Man top just 250 metres from his home.

Experts said his injuries could have only been caused by a ‘brutal and sustained assault’ inflicted in the hours, or days, prior 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.

His stammer is said to have worsened, becoming particularly bad around Cole. He wet himself more frequently and began self-harming.

Friends of the couple said Cole told them he did not like Logan, and others said his attitude changed after becoming obsessed with the idea Williamson had cheated with Logan’s father Ben Mwangi.

Audio of the 999 call Williamson made to police shows how she shouted and sobbed down the phone that her son was missing, at one point shouting ‘Logan, Logan, Logan’.

She said she had woken up in the morning and went to see her children, but Logan was not in his bed.

However, the jury decided that she had been aware of Cole taking his body to the river the night before along with the teen.

She claimed to have been asleep, but CCTV from a neighbouring property showed lights being switched on and off and curtains being drawn while she was the only one at home.

Mr Mwangi, who was in court as the guilty verdicts were returned, paid tribute to his son as ‘the sweetest and most beautiful boy’.

He said in a statement: ‘Logan was the sweetest and most beautiful boy whose life has been tragically cut short.

‘The world is a colder and darker place without his warm smile and the happy energy with which he lived his life.

‘The hole that has been left in the hearts of all who knew and loved him will never be filled. No amount of time can heal the wounds that have been inflicted.’

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