Logan Mwangi: How CCTV helped police catch his murderers

On the morning of 31 July last year, five-year-old Logan Mwangi's battered and bruised body was found in the River Ogmore.

His mother Angharad Williamson, stepfather John Cole and a teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have all been convicted of his murder.

Jurors spent six hours considering their verdicts after listening to weeks of deeply upsetting evidence.

What was the evidence against the killers?

Williamson phoned the police at 05:45 BST reporting Logan missing - claiming to have woken up to find him gone and accusing a woman of taking him.

Police arrived at the flat to find Williamson hysterical, while Cole and the youth could be seen walking around the area calling for him.

Cole and the teen apparently searching for Logan was part of an "elaborate" cover-up

Prosecutors successfully argued this was part of an "elaborate" cover-up concocted by the defendants.

Cole was captured on a neighbour's security camera carrying Logan's body to the river from the flat while being followed by the youth.

He claimed he woke to the sound of Williamson screaming that Logan was dead, and he panicked.

Cole said after dumping Logan's body, Williamson sent him out again to hide his ripped pyjama top

CCTV shows a bedroom light being switched on and off while Cole and the youth were out - the prosecution used this evidence to show Williamson was awake and aware Logan was dead.

Cole said after dumping the Logan's body, Williamson sent him out again to hide his ripped pyjama top.

The youth never gave evidence in the trial.

What happened to Logan Mwangi?

Logan, a previously "smiling, cheerful little boy", suffered 56 external cuts and bruises and "catastrophic" internal injuries, which were likened to a high-speed car crash.

Police officers found him partially submerged wearing a pair of dinosaur pyjama bottoms, and a Spider-Man top, just 250 metres from his home.

Experts said the injuries could have only been caused by a "brutal and sustained assault" inflicted in the hours or days before his death.

They also said the injuries were "consistent with child abuse".

Five-year-old Logan Mwangi was described as a "really sweet, happy-go-lucky child" by a neighbour

In the months and weeks leading up to his death, Logan had been "dehumanised" by his family, his stammer worsened, particularly around Cole, he wet himself more frequently and began self-harming.

Friends of the couple said Cole told them he did not like Logan, and others said his attitude changed after becoming obsessed with the idea Williamson had cheated on him with Logan's father Benjamin Mwangi.

'Desire for violence'

Medics made a safeguarding referral to the police after Logan suffered a broken arm in August 2020, with Williamson saying he fell down the stairs.

She took him to hospital the day after the incident and said she thought he had only dislocated his shoulder and had tried to pop it back in.

Later, she told a friend the youth had confessed to pushing Logan down the stairs, but it was not until January last year she told the police.

By March, due to concerns over Cole, Logan and his younger sibling had been assigned their own social worker, Gaynor Rush.

In June, a month before Logan died, the family were removed from the child protection register - meaning it was believed there was no longer a risk of significant harm.

A foster family the youth stayed with claimed to have heard him say he wanted to kill Logan.

They said they reported the teen's "desire for violence" and threats to harm Logan to his social worker, Debbie Williams, but she seemed unconcerned. Ms Williams has denied this.

A support worker also heard the youth singing: "I love kids, I love to punch kids in the head, it's orgasmic."

Weeks before he died, Logan suffered a broken collarbone, but he never got medical treatment.

Five-year-old Logan Mwangi was described as a "really sweet, happy-go-lucky child"

Timeline

• 15 March 2016: Logan Mwangi is born in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, to Angharad Williamson and Benjamin Mwangi. Their relationship quickly breaks down and Mr Mwangi moves back to Brentwood, Essex

• June 2016: Mr Mwangi visits Logan in Bridgend for their first father's day together and they have regular contact. Williamson and Logan move in with Mr Mwangi in Essex but by August have returned to Wales. By the end of the year, Williamson had married another man, but the relationship became violent. During this time, contact between Logan and his father ceases

• 2019: Contact between Logan and his father resumes. In April, Williamson takes Logan to visit. This was the last time Mr Mwangi saw Logan, as Williamson was in a relationship with Cole and was preventing access

• 16 August 2020: Logan is taken to hospital by his mother, who said he dislocated his shoulder when he fell down the stairs the day before. Doctors find he has a broken arm. The hospital makes a referral to social services and Williamson gives a statement to the police

• 21 January 2021: Williamson calls 101 and tells the operator the youth defendant had confessed to pushing Logan down the stairs when he fractured his arm

• June: Social workers in Bridgend remove Logan and his younger sibling from the child protection register

• July: At some point before his death, Logan suffered a broken collarbone. There are no records of the injury being treated

• 20 July: Logan tests positive for Covid and has to self-isolate

• 29 July: Logan is allegedly seriously assaulted by both Cole and the youth, an incident which Williamson claimed included Logan being punched in the stomach by Cole

• 30 July: Social worker Deborah Williams visits the flat but is denied entry as Logan has Covid. She stays for 20 minutes and leaves without seeing or hearing Logan

• 31 July: CCTV shows Cole carrying Logan's body out of the flat and towards the river, while being followed by the youth. At about 05:45, Williamson calls 999 and claims to have woken to find Logan missing, accusing another woman of having taken him. Two police officers searching the nearby park area just after 06:00 discover Logan's body in the River Ogmore. Logan was allowed to leave self-isolation the day he was found dead

The court heard Logan had tested positive for Covid, and was kept like a prisoner in his small bedroom

On 20 July, Logan tested positive for Covid-19 and was shut in his bedroom with a baby gate, barring him from leaving.

Williamson claimed that two days before Logan's body was found, an argument about a spilt drink escalated and ended with Cole and the youth attacking the Tondu Primary School pupil.

She accused Cole of punching Logan twice in the stomach and ordering the youth to "sweep" Logan if he stuttered or flinched.

Moments later, the youth carried out the martial arts-style manoeuvre, kicking his legs out from under him, while using his hand to slam his head to the ground.

Williamson said she screamed for them to stop, but said Cole replied: "The only way this boy understands is pain."

What happens to the killers next?

Williamson screamed "no, no, no" as the jury of five men and seven women returned their guilty verdicts.

Mrs Justice Jefford had to interrupt the jury to tell Williamson to be quiet before the verdict against the youth was given.

"Out of respect for your son and for the youth, please be quiet for the verdicts," she said.

The judge adjourned the case and the three will be sentenced at a later date.

As they have been convicted of murder, a life sentence is mandatory, but it will be for the judge to decide what the minimum amount of time each killer will spend behind bars before they can even be considered for release.