Logan Mwangi: Father asks why he had to die

Ben Mwangi said his lasting memory of Logan was a "happy little boy that called me Daddy"

The father of a five-year-old boy murdered by his mother, stepfather and a 14-year-old boy has asked why his son had to die in horrific circumstances.

Angharad Williamson, 31, John Cole, 40, and the teen, who cannot be named, killed Logan Mwangi in July 2021.

He suffered 56 "catastrophic" injuries and his body was dumped in a river near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county.

"It really doesn't seem real," said Logan's father, Ben Mwangi, in an interview with ITV.

His son suffered multiple internal injuries, similar to those found in victims of a fall from a height or in a high-speed car crash.

Logan's killers are due to be sentenced later this week after being convicted of murder in April.

"What child has to go through that sort of torture for such a long period of the time?" asked Mr Mwangi, who had been denied contact with his son since April 2019 - around the time Williamson began her relationship with Cole.

"One of the biggest questions in my whole entire life I'll always be asking myself is, 'Why? Why did this happen? Why did Logan have to die?'"

• FM rejects independent review of social services

• Logan's killers: A 'racist' and stockbroker's girl

Angharad Williamson, John Cole and a 14-year-old are due to be sentenced for Logan's murder

Friends 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.

"For the past five years, I've been struggling and trying to fight just to see Logan," said Mr Mwangi

"All I've wanted to do was just be a dad."

A month before Logan was killed, social workers in Bridgend removed him from the Child Protection Register.

And the day before police found his body, a social worker spent 20 minutes outside Logan's home speaking to the defendants, but did not see or hear him.

Ben Mwangi: "If I can stop this from happening to anybody else, then that will be the biggest, positive, most positive thing"

Mr Mwangi said he had not been told his son was on the register and he wanted the law changed so social services had a duty to inform estranged parents.

"I probably would have tried to take him away," he said.

"If I can stop this from happening to anybody else, then that will be the biggest, positive, most positive thing."

He said his lasting memory of Logan was as a "happy little boy that called me Daddy".

"The wonderful memories I have with my son will never be tarnished," he said.

"They will forever be in my heart and soul."

A child practice review has been launched into Logan's death which includes local councils, police, the probation service and NHS.

An ITV documentary, The Murder Of Logan Mwangi, produced in conjunction with South Wales Police, starts on Thursday at 21:00 BST.