Logan Mwangi trial: Five-year-old had 'significant injuries'

A five-year-old boy's body was dumped in a river after being beaten so badly his injuries were consistent with a fall from a great height or car crash, a murder trial has been told.

Logan Mwangi suffered 56 "catastrophic" injuries Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Mother Angharad Williamson, 30, step-father, John Cole, 40, both of Sarn, Bridgend county, and a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named, all deny murder.

Logan's body was pulled from the River Ogmore on 31 July 2021.

They are all charged with murdering the youngster between 28 July and 1 August.

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.

Ms Williamson and the youth pleaded not guilty to both offences, while Mr Cole admitted perverting the course of justice.

The two adults were also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they both deny.

On the first day of their trial, prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: "The prosecution's case is that Logan was murdered and each of these three defendants played their part in the killing of that five-year-old child."

Watch Logan Mwangi: A Boy Betrayed on iPlayer.

She said each of the three defendants had covered up their involvement, adding: "Each prioritised their own self-preservation over all else, and particularly over the needs of Logan.

Referring to the teenage defendant, Ms Rees said: "The prosecution say his young age was no object to his involvement in the death and cover-up, in which we say he took full part."

She described him as a "complex, troubled and violent" boy and said he had previously made "repeated threats that he wanted to kill Logan and wanted him dead".

The jury of seven men and five women heard an apparently distraught Ms Williamson had reported Logan missing at 05:45 BST on 31 July, and had accused a woman against whom she held a grudge of abducting him.

The 999 call and the faked search for Logan were described by Ms Rees as a "callous" and "elaborate" attempt to cover up the trio's role in his death.

Police found Logan, wearing only mis-matched pyjamas, in the river a short time later. He was taken to the town's Princess of Wales Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

Ms Rees said he had suffered "significant injuries to his internal organs and his brain which caused his death".

She added one pathologist described his injuries as "so extreme you would expect to find them as a result of a fall from a great height or a high-velocity road traffic accident".

Logan had 56 external injuries to his head, face, trunk, arms and legs which were from "blunt force trauma", Ms Rees said.

It was apparent Logan had died before his body was placed in the river, she added.

"The prosecution say that Logan died as a result of a brutal and sustained assault upon him which happened inside the home," she said.

"It is the use of forceful violence which caused the catastrophic injuries found at post-mortem."

The jury was told Mr Cole and the 14-year-old were caught on CCTV in the early hours of 31 July leaving a house.

Mr Cole was carrying something in his arms which he has since confirmed was Logan's dead body, the court heard.

The pair walked along the riverside path to the spot where Logan's body was found.

During this time, a light can be seen switching on and off in the room used by Logan, which the prosecution said proved his mother was awake and knew what had happened to her son.

Mr Cole and the 14-year-old boy then returned to the property before heading out again; the prosecution said this trip was to dispose of Logan's bloodied pyjama top.

Ms Rees QC said: "Angharad Williamson must have been awake and up and about, fully aware Logan had died and that his body had been dumped in the river by her partner - disposed of like they were fly-tipping rubbish."

Ms Williamson began to cry, becoming more upset as the jury was shown a picture of Logan and the circumstances of the five-year-old's death was described.

The jury was told CCTV footage two days earlier showed a "physical struggle" between Logan's mother and the teenager, in which a witness described her as "hysterical".

Ms Rees said: "In her [police] interview, Angharad Williamson said that there was an incident on 29 July when Logan was seriously assaulted by Cole and the youth who were acting together."

The prosecutor told the jury this suggested the attack on Logan had already started.

"Angharad Williamson failed to do anything to help for over a day," she added.

Ms Rees questioned why Ms Williamson failed to help Logan, describing him as a "vulnerable five-year-old child - her own son who had been attacked by a grown man and a teenager".

Ms Rees said this demonstrated "that something serious has been going on behind closed doors".

The court heard the following day a social worker made an unscheduled visit to Mr Cole and Ms Williamson's address but was told she could not see Logan because he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was in self-isolation.

But Ms Rees said: "If, as Angharad Williamson claims in interview, and as we understand her defence case will be, [the youth] and John Cole had severely assaulted Logan the day before, why didn't she tell [the social worker] in her 20-minute visit to the property?

"Who was she protecting and why was she doing it?"

The court also heard the teenager told police he did not realise Mr Cole was carrying Logan's dead body, but the prosecution said the CCTV footage on 31 July shows the pair were so close together he must have known.

The trial, which is expected to last about eight weeks, continues.