A boy who was tragically discovered dead and dumped in a river was made to stand facing a wall for half-an-hour as punishment by his mum and stepfather, a court has heard.
Little Logan Mwangi, aged 5, was found dead on July 31, 2021, in a river. One pathologist described his injuries as something you would expect from a fall from a great height or road traffic accident.
His mum Angharad Williamson, 30, of Bridgend, and stepdad John Cole, 40, also of Bridgend, have appeared in court and deny murder. A third defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, has also pleaded not guilty at Cardiff Crown Court.
Hull Live reports that all three are also accused of perverting the course of justice, including moving Logan's body to the river in Wales, 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 denied murder but admitted to perverting the course of justice.
Williamson and Cole were also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they both denied. The Crown states that Logan had been subjected to a “brutal and sustained assault” prior to his death and had suffered from the kind of brutal injuries usually found in people who had fallen from a great height or a high speed car crash.
Jurors have been told that Logan's body was then "disposed of" by Cole and the youth "as if they were fly-tipping rubbish". On Tuesday, jurors heard evidence from Callum Williams, a man described in court as a friend of John Cole.
Mr Williams said he had met Logan around four or five times and said that he had also met Williamson.
When asked by prosecutor Caroline Rees QC if he had seen Cole and Williamson disciplining Logan, he replied: “They would try and talk to him to figure out what was going on and if that didn’t work they would make him stand towards the wall on the stairs towards the banister for 30 minutes at a time…He was around the age of five or six.”
The witness said he stayed for food with Cole and Williamson on a couple of occasions when Logan was not allowed to eat takeaway food.
Mr Williams said: “He was at first but before the food arrived he misbehaved so Jay said he wasn’t allowed any takeaway, he didn’t go without food but had a bowl of cereal instead.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
