Logan Mwangi: Mother heard 'bickering' about son, court hears
- Published
Logan was found dead in the River Ogmore last July
The mother of Logan Mwangi was heard screaming "what have you done with my son?" on the morning his body was discovered, a court has heard.
Angharad Williamson, 30, her partner John Cole, 40, and a 14-year-old youth all deny his murder.
He was found dead in the River Ogmore in Sarn, Bridgend county, on 31 July.
Witness Paula Heath told Cardiff Crown Court she was woken up at about 05:00 BST to the sound of a man and woman "bickering".
She said she heard the woman yelling outside: "What have you done to my son? Where is my son? I want my son."
She said a male voice shouted in reply: "I have done nothing with your son."
Ms Heath told the court the woman sounded "hysterical".
"The only way you could describe it was sheer panic," she said.
Logan was found by police officers about 250 metres from the flat he shared with his family in Sarn, and is believed to have suffered more than 55 injuries.
Angharad Williamson and John Cole are both charged with Logan Mwangi's murder
Ms Heath added: "She was shouting, 'Logan, Logan', and 'The back door's open, he's got no shoes on, he's got no socks on'."
Later, the witness said she saw a woman, now known to be Ms Williamson, run towards a police officer who was stood on the nearby footbridge that crossed from Lower Llansantffraid into the park.
She said she was in her nightie and bare feet and shouted: "He's my son. You're telling me nothing."
The jury has been told Ms Williamson's behaviour, including making a 999 call to police to report Logan missing, was part of a plan concocted by the three defendants to cover up their role in his death.
She claims to have put Logan to bed alive the night before his body's was found, and to have awoken to find him missing.
CCTV footage of Mr Cole, accompanied by the teenager, carrying Logan's body to the river at around 02:00 has already been shown to the jury.
The prosecution has said this proves Ms Williamson was awake at the time and was aware of what was happening to her son.
Logan's body was found 250 metres away from the flat he shared with his family
Parents 'slightly on the strict side'
Ms Williamson's close friend Rhiannon Hales told the court Logan and her daughter were "best friends".
She said she she went to look for Logan after receiving a call at about 06:00 from his mother, who was "devastated" when the news came that he could not be saved.
Ms Hales also told the jury that Ms Williamson gave her three different explanations for Logan's shoulder injury.
Logan's mother told her he had been pushed down the stairs by the youth, had fallen on his own and that a woman told the youth to do it, she said.
Ms Hales recounted an incident where Ms Williamson shouted at the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, warning them to "stay away from my babies".
The witness described Logan's mother and Mr Cole as parents "slightly on the strict side".
Describing Logan, Ms Hales said: "He was amazing. He had the best little smile."
Ms Hales said the little boy was "quieter" and "less playful" around Mr Cole, who he called his dad but that Logan told her he was "proud" of him.
Ms 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 his partner face a third charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.