Logan Mwangi: Mum and stepdad 'put body in sports bag'

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

A man accused of murdering a five-year-old boy has told a court he and the boy's mother panicked and put his body into a sports bag after he died in bed.

John Cole, 40, is on trial for the murder of Logan Mwangi alongside partner Angharad Williamson, 31, and a 14-year-old boy. They deny the charge.

Cole said Logan, who had been isolating with Covid, had been "kicking off" the day before his body was found.

He said he was woken at 02:00 by Ms Williamson screaming "he's dead".

Logan Mwangi's body was found in the River Ogmore in Sarn, Bridgend county, on 31 July.

Cole has admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice, which Ms Williamson and the 14-year-old deny.

The two adults are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they both deny.

Giving evidence in his own defence, stepfather Cole told Cardiff Crown Court how Logan had been coming to the end of his 10-day isolation after testing positive for Covid - something that they took "extremely seriously".

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He said they had kept the child in his room and wore masks when they took him food but said Logan found it difficult.

"He didn't understand it, he kept running around, he wouldn't stay clear of us," he said.

John Cole has admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice,

He explained how he disciplined Logan a number of times on that day, "clipping him around the head" and "tapping his hand" but he did not believe he had injured him.

He also said he dropped him on to the bed and that Ms Williamson also grabbed her son off the floor and put him into his room.

He said he went to bed alone at about midnight, with Ms Williamson moving to be in Logan's room.

He said he was woken by her screams and went into Logan's bedroom and tried to do CPR for what "seemed like ages - around 15 minutes".

He said eventually she told him to stop, with Ms Williamson saying "just get him out of here".

Cole denied knowing why Logan was "in that state", insisting "it just didn't make sense at all".

He said he and Ms Williamson put his body into a sports bag to get him out of the property, rather than call the police or an ambulance.

"Angharad put on his Spider-Man T-shirt, I helped her put it on him, we put him in a Nike bag and carried him out of the property," he said.

"We were panicking, both of us, we didn't know what to do."

Logan's body was found 250 metres away from the flat he shared with his family

Cole said he went alone to the River Ogmore but, after he had left Logan's body, he noticed the youth defendant was at the top of an embankment.

Cole said when he returned to the house, he discussed with Ms Williamson "what we were going to do", with the pair deciding "we were going to report Logan missing in the morning".

During the next couple of hours, he said the pair did not sleep with Ms Williamson "lying on the bed".

He said she made the call to the police at about 05:45 and he left to "make out" he was looking for Logan.

The court has already seen CCTV showing Cole and the youth appearing to look for Logan and shouting his name.

"We went all over Sarn. I tried to lead the police to where I left Logan," Cole told the jury.

"Why did you do that?" asked his defence barrister, David Elias QC.

"I felt guilty for how I just left him by the river. I knew it was wrong."

Cole said when he next saw Ms Williamson she said Logan's death was a "freak accident" but he did not ask her any more details because he "didn't want to know the answer".

The trial is being heard at Cardiff Crown Court

Earlier in his defence, Cole said he had questioned his partner's discipline of Logan as she had put her hot coffee spoon on his neck on one occasion.

"I said 'what are you doing?' And she said 'my dad used to do it to me' and I said 'you can't do that'," he told Mr Elias.

He said they both had agreed not to tell the social worker about it.

The jury was told Logan had a fracture to his collarbone which may have been there for "several weeks" before he died.

Cole said he had been aware Logan "hurt his shoulder when he fell off a wheelchair" but did not know it was broken.

'Moved to Wales for a better life'

Cole told the court he moved to south Wales from the Midlands in 2017 for "a fresh start, a better life".

The jury previously heard he had a number of previous convictions, including burglary, common assault and possession of cannabis.

Asked if anything had changed at that time, Cole explained that his sister's death in 2006 had had a "dramatic" impact on him.

"To that point, I was drifting, I was involved in a lot of crime, I decided to change my life for my niece," he said.

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

At the start of his relationship with Ms Williamson in 2019, he said he got on "amazingly" with Logan.

When asked about disciplining Logan, he said they used to put him "in the naughty corner" for five or 10 minutes.

He also said he would make him do press-ups "when he was running around and being hyperactive, to burn off energy".

However, Ms Williamson "didn't disagree with it" when he discussed it with her, he said.

"I still tried with Logan every day. I spent time with him, taught him his phonics, taught him to shuffle [a dance]."

Cole admitted he and Ms Williamson did argue "at times" and they could be loud, but he "never" threatened her with violence.

"We are both quite vocal people," he told the jury.

Cole also said Logan had become very difficult following the arrival of a new baby in the household.

"Logan struggled with the baby quite a lot, he got jealous," he said.

Cole said Logan had once placed a pillow over the baby's face when the infant was about two months old and had also "tapped and hit" it.

A family friend previously told the court that Cole bullied Logan by depriving him of meals.

But Cole said Logan had never been denied food, explaining: "We used to do takeaway nights, if he had been really naughty we would not give him the takeaway with us, we would give him other food, but he would lose out on that one."

The trial continues.