Logan Mwangi: Why murderer Craig Mulligan can be named

Craig Mulligan moved into Logan's home just five days before the murder

A judge has ruled that a 14-year-old boy who murdered five-year-old Logan Mwangi can now be publicly named.

Craig Mulligan's name was revealed after a judge's ruling, following his sentencing to at least 15 years.

In her ruling on the anonymity order, Mrs Justice Jefford said "there is a significant gap in any understanding of this case" if Mulligan was not named.

During the trial, Mulligan could not be identified publicly due to reporting restrictions because of his age.

Mulligan was convicted of murder alongside two adults: the man who raised him, John Cole, 40, will serve a minimum 29 years in prison, while Logan's mother, Angharad Williamson, 31, will serve at least 28 years.

A joint media application by the BBC, News UK, Associated Newspapers Ltd, Reach PLC, and ITN was put in to challenge the restriction in place under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.

It allows anonymity to any young person involved in a criminal case until they reach the age of 18.

Watch Logan Mwangi: A Boy Betrayed on iPlayer.

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Mulligan was not biologically related to Logan, nor to Cole or Williamson.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Cole had raised him since he was nine months old and considered himself a father figure.

Logan Mwangi was a previously "smiling, cheerful little boy", the court heard

Logan's body was found in the River Ogmore, near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county.

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

'Dehumanised'

On 20 July Logan tested positive for Covid-19, and he was shut in his bedroom for 10 days. The judge said this decision by Cole and Williamson was "extreme" and he was given treatment that "dehumanised him".

His body was dumped 250m from his home like "fly-tipped rubbish", the prosecution said.

The jury was played extensive CCTV footage from nearby houses which showed Cole and Mulligan at 02:43 BST on 31 July moving Logan's body in a sports bag to the nearby river.

They were caught on CCTV again as they came back to the house to pick up the dinosaur pyjama top Logan had been wearing, which police found in a wooded area with a big cut in.

Mrs Justice Jefford rejected Williamson's version of events that Cole and Mulligan attacked Logan two days before his body was found and that she had run out of the house in an attempt to get help.

She said: "That was made up after the event to protect yourself and shift the blame".

John Cole fought to get parental responsibility of Mulligan while he was living with Angharad Williamson

Cole had fought for parental responsibility of Mulligan from January 2021 and got custody of him that summer.

Mulligan moved into the family home on 26 July, just five days before Logan was found dead.

During the trial, the prosecution said his moving into the house was like "putting a lit match into a powder keg".

Logan's father Ben Mwangi, (centre) says he experiences recurring nightmares

Earlier this year, the trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard witness statements from the foster family who cared for Mulligan during the first half of 2021 and spoke of being "terrified" of him and referred to him as a "monster".

The family said Mulligan never called Logan by his name, referring to him as "the five-year-old", and on a number of occasions said he wanted to kill the boy.

One of the family members also described how the 14-year-old asked other children if he could play "murder games" with them and "put them in black bags".

She said Mulligan "was always talking about killing people because of his gaming" and it made her feel "unnerved" and "uncomfortable".

One of the family members also said Mulligan was "completely obsessed" with Cole, who he looked up to "as a god".