The teenager who helped to kill five-year-old Logan Mwangi can today be unmasked as “evil” schoolboy Craig Mulligan.
Mulligan, 14, was found guilty of murdering defenceless Logan alongside his dad John Cole, 40, and Mwangi's vile mum Angharad Williamson, 31.
Mulligan is the son of Cole's ex-partner Rebecca Trudgill, who was in a relationship with the monster for over a decade.
Today, Williamson silently wept as she was jailed for life. She'll spend a minimum of 28 years behind bars.
Cole was also jailed for life and will spend at least 29 years in prison, while Mulligan was sentenced to life detention with a minimum of 15 years.
Due to his age, the courts slapped an anonymity order on Mulligan, meaning the press could not reveal his true identity until today when the ban was finally lifted.
It can now be revealed that Mulligan was once described as "pure evil" by foster carers who looked after him weeks before Logan's death.
He also had a history of "cruel" attacks on young children, vulnerable adults and small animals and was trained in martial arts.
One foster carer said: "He was pure evil and enjoyed causing anxiety and fear. He knew no boundaries."
But none of this prevented social workers homing him alongside little Logan in the days before his terrible death.
The tragic five-year-old was found dead in the River Ogmore in Sarn, south Wales, in July last year with injuries similar to those from a high-speed car crash.
The youngster had suffered more than 56 external injuries, as well as horrific internal wounds - including a large tear to his liver and one to his bowel.
Experts said the injuries could have only been caused by a "brutal and sustained assault" inflicted on Logan in the hours, or days, prior to his death.
Mulligan had previously been taken in by foster carers for eight weeks in June and July 2021 but they were unable to cope with his scary behaviour and he was allowed to return to Mwangi's home.
Bridgend Social Services were aware that the foster family had been unable to cope with his behaviour.
After fostering 80 children over almost 50 years it was the first time the foster family had asked for a child in their care to be removed.
The family, who wish to remain anonymous, lived at home with one daughter.
They had always done long term fostering but they were asked by the council to take in the teen for two months.
However, the teen soon showed his nasty side and on the first night showed their daughter a vape and a knife and they would regularly find knives hidden behind his pillows.
They said he was "just uncontrollable" and that "everything was killing” with him.
On one occasion, they went to a local park and he was heard to say: "Shall we play murder and I will put you all in black bags?"
On another occasion they went to the cinema to watch In The Heights, the Lin Manuel Miranda musical set in New York, and the teen shouted out "Kill all the Jews!" at the top of his voice during the film.
One said: "Why didn't they pick up on [Logan] and put him with a lovely little family?"
“In my eyes I knew that he could do something like that, it was scary. You never knew what to do or say with him."
The teen would also repeatedly talk about how much he "hated" Logan and "wanted him dead".
They said they told of their misgivings to his social worker but were dismissed.
They said: "It was just horrendous. We were totally drained.”
However, despite Mulligan's sinister behaviour, social workers dismissed concerns as "nonsense" just weeks before little Logan died.
Mulligan was then moved into the family home just five days before the murder - a cruel fact described as "not a coincidence" in court.
His tragic move was approved by a family court judge after it was supported by Mulligan's social worker Debbie Williams.
Delivering her conclusion in respect of the reporting restriction covering Craig Mulligan the judge, Mrs Justice Jefford, said: “A crucial part of the case is the family dynamics and his relationship with the adult defendants and Logan.
“Evidence heard at trial was that Craig idolised his father and his attitude towards Logan and involvement in his death was to a great extent driven by that relationship.
“A central aspect of the narrative leading up to Logan’s death was how Craig Mulligan came to be in the family home and the correlation of his role in Logan’s death.”
She considered representations made by Mulligan’s barrister John Hipkin QC that publication of the defendant’s name could lead to risks of physical attacks or suicide attempts.
The court heard Mulligan was assaulted at his placement before his conviction after someone discovered his identity.
Mrs Justice Jefford continued: “There’s a significant gap in any understanding of this case and the circumstances of Logan’s death…. There is a real risk of ill-informed information or a vacuum in that part of the case.
“This was a very serious offence involving a brutal and ferocious assault on a small child in the home where he should have been safe. [Mulligan’s] involvement was in my view significant.
“I have sentenced him on the basis he inflicted physical injuries on Logan and participated in the callous plan to dispose of his body in the river along with the pyjama top and along with John Cole participated in pretending to look for him. He gave a complex but untruthful tale about what happened…
“The attack on Logan that led to his death was wholly different nature and level of seriousness to anything that had or may have happened before, a few days after Craig Mulligan had been returned to the family home from foster care.
“This reinforces the submission the family dynamic was an important aspect of this case that needs to be understood. It is in the public interest to understand how and why that took place.
“There is due to be a safeguarding review in the public interest and reporting of it will be difficult with an inability to report the familial relationship.”
During the trial, the jury heard how Logan had been kept like a prisoner in the weeks leading up to his death.
Williamson claimed that two days before Logan's body was found an argument about a spilt drink escalated and ended with Cole and the youth attacking him.
She accused Cole of punching Logan twice in the stomach and ordering Mulligan to "sweep" Logan if he stuttered or flinched.
Moments later the youth carried out the martial arts-style manoeuvre, kicking his legs out from under him while using his hand to slam his head to the ground.
Williamson said she screamed for them to stop but said Cole replied: "The only way this boy understands is pain."
Two days later, she phoned the police at 5.45am reporting Logan missing - claiming to have awoken to find him gone.
Police arrived at the flat to find Williamson hysterical, while Cole and the youth could be seen walking around the area calling for him.
But this was nothing more than what prosecutors described as an "elaborate" cover-up concocted by the defendants to cover up Logan's murder.
In response to Logan's murder, both South Wales police and social services have set up investigations into what happened.
The Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board, which covers Bridgend where Logan lived, has commissioned a Child Practice Review in relation to Logan's death.
The Child Practice Review by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board will chaired by an independent panel which will gather information on their involvement with the child and family, in order to develop a timeline of significant events that took place prior to Logan's death.
The report, which is expected to be take about six months to complete, will then be presented to the Regional Safeguarding Board for scrutiny and approval, before being submitted to the Welsh Government for final endorsement.
South Wales police referred themselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IOPC) but they concluded there was no case to answer.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We received a mandatory death or serious injury (DSI) referral from South Wales Police on 1 August last year, about previous police contact some months prior to Logan’s tragic death, and the contact police had when he was reported missing.
“Having carefully assessed the information provided, we decided there was no necessity to investigate, and returned the referral to the force for them to handle. Our thoughts remain with Logan’s family and friends.”
