Logan Mwangi: Murder-accused mum too 'vulnerable' to get help

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

A murder-accused mother didn't call for help when her son was attacked because she felt "vulnerable", a jury heard.

Angharad Williamson, stepfather John Cole and a 14-year-old boy deny murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi.

Ms Williamson told the jury that Cole and the teenager hit and pushed Logan two days before he was found dead in the River Ogmore, Bridgend, on 31 July.

Cardiff Crown Court also heard that Cole had threatened to kill Logan if Ms Williamson broke up with him.

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Ms Williamson said an argument between her and Cole on 29 July over someone spilling a drink on her stereo "escalated very quickly", and Cole accused Logan of smirking, telling Logan "you love it when me and your mum argue".

"I showed him my stereo and he said straight away it could have been Logan, and I said: 'why do you pick on Logan?'", Ms Williamson said.

She said he "pulled" the five-year-old out of his bedroom and tried to talk to him but the boy struggled to speak because of his stutter.

"(Cole) then punched him twice in the stomach and he landed on his bum and he hit his elbows on the floor," she added.

Ms Williamson denied playing any part in her son's death

She said Cole then told the teenage defendant to keep an eye on Logan saying "if he flinches again or stutters, sweep him", adding she understood that to mean to take his legs from under him.

She said when Logan flinched, the teenage defendant used his right leg to sweep Logan and pushed his head to the floor.

'I felt so vulnerable'

Ms Williamson said she wanted to try and get help from a friend or her mother but Cole was blocking her way out of the flat .

"It was so intimidating - I felt so vulnerable and all I wanted to do was get help for Logan and he wouldn't get out of my way," she told the jury.

In a video played to the jury, Ms Williamson is seen running out of the flat where the family lived in Lower Llansantffraid, Sarn, just before 15:00 GMT and being chased by the youth defendant. After a few moments she can be seen to go back inside.

She said she later told Cole she wanted to leave him "for good" to which he replied "if we break up because of Logan I am going to kill him".

"I'd had enough. He's crossed a line hurting Logan," she told the court.

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

Throughout the course of the next day Williamson said Logan did not seem in pain or discomfort, although he had refused to eat his favourite meal of pizza and chips on the Friday evening.

She said after putting him to bed she took her medication and went to sleep at about 10pm, while Cole and the youth played an Xbox in the living room.

When she woke at about 5:30am, Logan was not in his room and she began looking around the flat and outside for him, eventually calling the police.

Ms Williamson told a jury she was "hysterical" when she woke up on 31 July and could not find her son.

The jury has heard the 999 call Williamson made to police where she said Logan was missing and said he may have been taken by someone.

'I'm a very over emotional person'

She denied claims by the prosecution that this was "make believe", saying "you can't fake feelings like that".

Her defence barrister Peter Rouch QC asked her whether she was able to "keep a lid" on her emotions.

"No I can't. I have tried for years," she replied, "I am a very over emotional person."

Ms Williamson added she wanted to see Logan's body after his autopsy, but this never happened.

"I was going to wash all the mud away and I was going to put him in some clothes because he was all cold and wet," she said, adding she "never got to say goodbye".

Angharad Williamson and John Cole are both charged with his murder

'Sick and disgusting'

Cole previously said Ms Williamson had woken him at 2am saying Logan was dead and that they decided to get rid of his body and his pyjama top.

Under cross examination from Cole's defence barrister, David Elias QC, Ms Williamson was asked about those pyjamas.

She repeatedly said she couldn't remember what her son had been wearing and said: "I never touched my son's dead body - what you are implying is sick and disgusting."

Ms Williamson was said she did not immediately tell the police about the alleged assault on the 29 July because she was "scared and ashamed".

She added that if she believed Cole and the teenager had "done that much damage" she would have taken Logan to hospital, adding: "His injuries were horrific - you do not get that from two punches."

Angharad Williamson denied playing any part in her son's death or knowing that his body had been moved to the River Ogmore.

Cole has admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice, which Ms Williamson and the 14-year-old who cannot be named deny.

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

The trial continues.