Logan Mwangi: Mother, step-father and teenager guilty of murdering five-year-old found dead in river
A mother has been found guilty of murdering her five-year-old son alongside his step-father and a teenage boy.
Logan Mwangi’s body was discovered in the River Ogmore in Sarn, Bridgend, last July, just a few hundred metres from the flat he shared with his family.
The child, also known as Logan Williamson, had suffered 56 “catastrophic” external injuries similar to those found in victims of high-speed crashes or a fall from a height.
His mother Angharad Williamson, 31, and her partner John Cole, 40, were convicted of murder by a jury of five men and seven women at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday after five hours of deliberation.
A14-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was also found guilty of murder.
Williamson fell to the floor of the dock screaming “no, no, no” as she was found guilty of her son’s murder.
She struggled with the dock officers as she was led away, shouting at Cole: “You lying motherf****** murderer. You liar.”
Logan’s father Ben Mwangi was also in court to hear the jury return its verdicts.
The court previously heard Williamson reported Logan missing at 5.45am on 31 July 2021 and accused a woman, against whom she held a grudge, of abducting him.
Logan was found wearing only mis-matched pyjamas in the river by police a short time later and was confirmed dead in hospital.
CCTV footage shown to the jury during the trial captured Cole and the teenage boy, who was 13 years old at the time, leaving the family’s address in the early hours of 31 July.
Cole was carrying something in his arms towards the river that he later confirmed was Logan’s dead body.
Experts said Logan’s injuries could have only been caused by a “brutal and sustained assault” inflicted 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.
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.
After Williamson gave birth to his child, Cole was reluctant to let Logan see the baby and later claimed the boy had tried to smother the infant.
Medics made a safeguarding referral to the police after Logan suffered a broken arm in August 2020, with Williamson saying he had fallen down the stairs.
She took him to hospital the day after the incident and said she thought he had only dislocated his shoulder and had tried to put it back.
