Logan Mwangi: Stepdad said ambulance not called because of panic

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

A man accused of murdering his stepson did not call an ambulance on finding him dead because he was "panicking," a court heard.

John Cole, 40, his partner Angharad Williamson, 31, and a youth, 14, deny murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi.

Logan was found in the River Ogmore, Sarn, Bridgend county, on 31 July.

Cardiff Crown Court also heard Cole did not call the police. He denied lying about attempting CPR on Logan and said he tried to save him.

He was asked about what happened on 31 July, between 02.00 (BST) and 02.15. He said that was when Ms Williamson woke him up screaming hysterically, saying she had heard Logan take his last breath.

He said he went into Logan's room, found him dead and began CPR, saying his "head was cocked back, his eyes were open and his knees were up to his chest".

'I wasn't thinking properly'

Caroline Rees QC, prosecuting, asked whether he told Ms Williamson to ring an ambulance.

"No," Cole said.

Ms Rees asked why he didn't call for medical help.

He said: "I wasn't thinking, I was just trying to save him."

He told the court he "just panicked".

"I woke up to Logan being dead and it threw me," Cole said.

"I wasn't thinking properly. Everything was collapsing.

"We'd just fought to get everything back together."

He said he was worried the rest of his family would be taken from him.

Ms Rees asked whether he had wanted to know how the boy died. Cole said he was not thinking clearly.

Ms Rees said: "You knew how he died. This story about doing CPR is all made up, isn't it?

"You didn't call an ambulance because you were one of the people who killed him.

"You, together with the other defendants in this case, applied extreme blunt force to that little boy.

"The last thing you wanted was the authorities looking at his body, so it was important to get the body out of there quickly."

Cole denied this.

"It wasn't like that," he said.

The court previously heard Logan was confined to his room for a week after testing positive for Covid.

He said, despite Logan testing negative on Friday, 30 July, he was still made to stay there.

When social worker Debbie Williams visited that day she said she did not see or hear Logan.

John Cole said he was quiet as he must have been watching a film.

"Was Logan already dead?" Ms Rees said.

"No," he said.

Ms Rees asked whether Logan had been attacked and was unconscious.

"You weren't keeping the curtains shut to hide what was in that room, were you?" she said.

"No," said Cole.

Angharad Williamson and John Cole are both charged with his murder

Giving evidence for the first time Ms Williamson told the court of her love for Logan.

The jury heard she had always been "overprotective" of her "perfect" boy and that his birth was "difficult".

'Overprotective'

"I loved the bones of that boy," she said, adding that breastfeeding him was "wonderful".

She said she lived with her mother in St Brides Major, Vale of Glamorgan, before moving to Broadlands, in Bridgend, when she started a new relationship.

When that relationship broke down, she returned to her mother.

Asked about her relationship with Logan at the time, Ms Williamson said: "It was beautiful. I am quite a needy person and Logan was very cuddly.

"We did everything together. Logan was my little sidekick. He was such a beautiful, happy little boy.

"He was so clever. He wanted to explore the world and see what it was about."

She said she had been "a teacher's worst nightmare".

"I wanted to make sure Logan had everything he needed just in case," she explained.

"So he would have spare shoes, change of outfits. I used to call them up - asking is he having a good day - I needed to know."

'Fairy tale family'

Ms Williamson said she first met Cole in 2019 and their relationship developed after a one-night stand.

She said at the start, their relationship was "perfect" and she "desperately wanted a perfect little fairy tale family".

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

Ms Williamson said she quickly became pregnant but things changed later that year after she took Logan on a trip to London to visit his father.

She told the jury she had been unable to answer calls from Cole because she was suffering from morning sickness.

When she came home to Bridgend he became "cold", believing she had kissed Logan's father Ben Mwangi while in London.

She said after this, John Cole would accuse Logan of "bringing up London" to "wind him up".

By Christmas 2019, she had lost touch with her friends and her mother, she told the court.

'Needy and jealous'

Shortly after she returned from hospital with the new baby, Mr Cole got angry and put his hands around her neck, she said, saying he could take the baby away.  

Ms Williamson said Logan became "needy" and "jealous" after the arrival of the baby.

The court had already heard about an alleged incident where Logan put a pillow over the new baby's face.

Ms Williamson said after that, Mr Cole took the baby away for two days, but she was allowed to visit when Logan was at school.

Asked about the way she spoke and had used offensive language, Ms Williamson said: "My vocabulary is atrocious."

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.

The trial continues.