Logan Mwangi: Mum said she'd miss punishing dead son, court told

Logan was found dead in the River Ogmore last July

The mother of Logan Mwangi said she would miss punishing him after the five-year-old was found dead in a river, a court heard.

Daniel O'Brien took flowers to Angharad Williamson and partner John Cole the day after Logan was found.

Angharad Williamson, 30, her partner John Cole, 40, and a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named, all deny murder.

Mr O'Brien, who trained with Mr Cole, said Ms Williamson was acting "strange, nervous, as if something wasn't right".

Logan was found dead in the River Ogmore in Bridgend county last July.

On Friday Mr O'Brien told Cardiff Crown Court he had known Mr Cole since 2017 and was called Uncle Dan by Logan.

He said when he visited, Ms Williamson said: "I'll miss punishing Logan and I'll miss putting him in the corner."

• Jury shown video of PC finding boy dead in river

• Jurors visit flat and river where boy was found

Mr O'Brien said he looked at his partner in disbelief at the comment which he said made him feel sick.

He told the court Mr Cole told him he did not like Logan.

"I told him he'd have to finish with her if he didn't like her son," Mr O'Brien said.

David Elias QC, defending Mr Cole, put it to Mr O'Brien that Mr Cole did not say he disliked Logan.

Logan's gran Claire Williamson described visiting his body in hospital

Mr O'Brien told the court: "He did. It was one afternoon after the gym we were sitting having a fag and he just came out with it."

He denied he and Mr Cole had fallen out but said Mr Cole had tried to break up his relationship while he was in prison.

Peter Rouch QC, defending Ms Williamson, suggested Mr Cole was taking things out of context.

"She was saying how much she would miss Logan, miss him being naughty and putting him in the naughty corner, perhaps?" Mr Rouch said.

Mr O'Brien said: "No, she just said she'd miss punishing him and putting him in the corner. I thought, 'Is she really saying this, and not something positive?'"

Logan's grandmother Claire Williamson had earlier told the court she saw bruises on his face when she saw his body.

Ms Williamson said she saw them when she visited his body in hospital.

She told the court that when she arrived at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, her daughter "was absolutely distraught, she was bouncing off the walls, she just didn't know how she would cope".

"I found it strange, because they kept on tucking him up in blankets and saying he was cold but also talking about his funeral. She was in a state of shock."

Angharad Williamson and John Cole are both charged with Logan Mwangi's murder

The jury heard that Angharad Williamson rang her mother from the hospital, and she met her in the resuscitation room.

Ms Williamson described Logan as appearing "drawn" and with bruising to his face.

Don't be surprised if we get arrested

Ms Williamson said she visited her daughter and Mr Cole on the morning of 1 August to deliver groceries, and stayed for more than an hour.

The witness said, as she was leaving, her daughter told her "not to be surprised" if she and her partner were arrested.

Ms Williamson continued: "I said: 'Why would you be arrested? You haven't done anything wrong.' She said something about the fact it happened while Logan was in their care."

She said she was "the best of friends" with her daughter, who lived with her during the first two years after Logan was born, but had not seen her in person since January that year due to feeling unwelcome by Mr Cole.

Tributes are still in place near where Logan's body was found last July

'Fantastic mum'

Ms Williamson described Logan as "the apple of my eye", adding: "He was a very, very bright child, a joy to be around."

When asked if she had ever seen her daughter be "physical or violent" towards Logan, she replied: "Absolutely not. She was a fantastic mum, she loved him to pieces."

Leanne Davies, a neighbour, who knew Angharad Williamson because their sons had been at the same school, told the court she had always seemed like "a caring and loving mum to Logan, and always seemed to have his best interests at heart".

Angharad Williamson and the teenager deny both murder and perverting the course of justice, while Mr Cole denies murder but admits the second charge.

Mr Cole and Angharad Williamson face a third charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.