Logan Mwangi: Inquiry calls to prevent other tragedies

Logan Mwangi was murdered by his mother, stepfather and a teenage boy in July 2021

An inquiry into Wales children's services has been called for to prevent tragedies like Logan Mwangi's murder.

On Thursday his mother, stepfather and a teenager were given life sentences for five-year-old Logan's murder.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said lessons must be learned "so that it never happens again".

The Welsh government said it would "closely consider" the results of a children's services inspection and a review of events before Logan's death.

Logan's body was found in the River Ogmore, near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county, in 2021 after he suffered 56 "catastrophic" injuries in a "brutal and sustained attack".

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His stepfather John Cole, 40, will be in prison for at least 29 years for the murder, while Logan's mother Angharad Williamson, 31, will serve a minimum of 28 years.

Craig Mulligan, 14, who was brought up by Cole, can now be named after a judge lifted an anonymity order. He will serve a minimum of 15 years.

One visitor to the site near where Logan's body was found thought his killers should have received harsher sentences.

Teresa Mason said: "They should have had a lot longer for the trauma they put that boy through."

She believed his killers' crimes should be punishable by death, and said Logan's life was one nightmare after another.

Sonia Newby and Teresa Mason were horrified by the murder

"Never have we seen anything like this here, it's so devastating, a lot of people around here are afraid to leave their kids out," she said.

Passer-by Sonia Newby believed a Logan memorial bench should be erected.

"It breaks my heart to know someone can hurt a child like that," she said.

Deputy director of the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre at Cardiff University, Prof Jonathan Scourfield, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast it was important to bear in mind that cases like this, where a child appears to have been scapegoated, were very rare.

"The vast majority of people who have social workers are not actively cruel like in Logan's case, but are struggling a lot, therefore it's not a good basis to construct any look at the wider system based on some very, very rare cases, most people need more support.

"We need to wait to hear what the child practice review says before we rush to judgement, we do need to take a look at what is happening in the sector, there are undoubtedly some big problems with staff recruitment and retention and case loads and these have an effect on social workers' ability to form relationships with families, which ultimately are what's needed to protect children."

He said he was on the fence about whether an independent review was needed and could see the arguments for it, but said if one was to take place, it would delay any changes for a couple of years while it took place.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has previously rejected calls for an independent review.

A Welsh government spokesman said: "This is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with everyone affected by Logan's death, particularly his family.

"We await the findings of the recent inspection of Bridgend County Borough Council Children's services, conducted by Care Inspectorate Wales. As well as the completion of the child practice review to look at the events prior to Logan's death.

"All findings and recommendations will be closely considered by the Welsh government."

Angharad Williamson, 31, Craig Mulligan, 14, and John Cole, 40, have been sentenced for Logan's murder

Following the sentencing Ms Dodds, who worked for more than 25 years as a child protection social worker, urged the Welsh government to launch a review of child protection.

"Social workers, their managers, family support workers and colleagues in the health and education systems are working hard to protect children," she said.

"But, more is needed to help social workers to do their job and a chief social worker for children is needed, as they have in England.

"Both Scotland and England are carrying out independent inquiries into the state of children's social services in their jurisdiction. There is no reason for Wales not to do the same."

In May Mr Drakeford rejected calls for an independent inquiry, saying he thought it was never "right to rush into something very general from what is a very specific set of circumstances".

However, he acknowledged then that social work was "under enormous pressure".

He said this was "partly because during the pandemic, social workers were not able to visit and meet children in the way that they normally would have".

"Now they are having to make up for a backlog of work that they weren't able to discharge in the normal way.

'Out of line'

"I don't think we need an inquiry to tell us that," he added, saying figures and inspections had showed this already."

Speaking after the sentence, Huw Irranca-Davies, the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore, said lessons needed to be learned from the child practice review.

He said that would be done "properly and rigorously, and we want to see the outcome of that, because, for goodness sake, if something was missed, we need to know and we need to learn the lessons - but that is why we need a really thorough investigation now".

Previously, Prof Donald Forrester of Cardiff University has said there are "profound problems" with children's social work in Wales, and that it is now in "crisis", adding that Wales was "out of line" in not carrying out an independent review of all children's social work.

'Known to social services'

Logan's family was known to social services, but he was removed from the child protection register a month before his death.

During sentencing Mrs Justice Jefford told the trio they were "all responsible for Logan's death and all the anguish that has flowed from it".

"There were 56 external injuries on his body, mostly bruising. He had suffered a blunt force trauma injury to the head," she said.

She described the injuries Logan suffered as "the sort of injuries seen in abused children".

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

"The inflicting of these injuries on a small, defenceless five-year-old is nothing short of horrifying," she added.

She detailed how Logan was kept "like a prisoner" in his bedroom for 10 days before his death after testing positive for Covid.

"When food was brought to him he was required to turn away - in effect to face the wall - while food was put down and left for him."

"This treatment of Logan was the culmination of treatment which had dehumanised him in the eyes of his parents."

In a written answer to a question from Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan in May, Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan said the Welsh government had committed to "radically reform" services for children.

"While our thoughts are with everyone affected by Logan's death, I do not intend to undertake an independent review of children's social care," she added.

Conservatives and Plaid Cymru also support the call for an independent review.

Watch Logan Mwangi: A Boy Betrayed on iPlayer.