Jury retires in trial of trio accused of murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi

The boy’s mother, stepfather and a teenager deny killing the youngster.

Tributes left at the scene in the Sarn area of Bridgend, south Wales, near to where five-year-old Logan Mwangi was found dead (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Archive)

The jury in the trial of a mother, stepfather and a teenager over the murder of a five-year-old found dead in a river has retired to consider the verdicts.

Logan Mwangi was discovered dumped in the River Ogmore near his home village of Sarn in Bridgend county on July 31, 2021.

He was wearing mismatched pyjamas and had “catastrophic” internal injuries said to be the result of a “brutal and sustained assault” and consistent with child abuse.

When he died, Logan had been self-isolating for 10 days after testing positive for Covid-19 and had been made to stay in his room and treated like “a prisoner”, the prosecution said.

Logan’s mother Angharad Williamson, 30, her partner John Cole, 40, and a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of murdering the youngster between July 28 and August 1.

All three are also accused of perverting the course of justice, including moving Logan’s body to the river near Pandy Park, removing his clothing, washing bloodstained bed linen, and making a false missing person report to police.

Williamson and the youth pleaded not guilty to both offences, while Cole denies murder but has admitted perverting the course of justice.

After an eight-week trial, the jury of five men and seven women will now consider whether each defendant is guilty of either murder or manslaughter.

If they find Williamson and Cole guilty of neither, they can also have the option of convicting them of the lesser charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Both adults have been remanded in custody since they were charged, while the boy is in local council care.