Shocking new video shows Logan Mwangi’s 14-year-old stepbrother displaying shameless arrogance in the aftermath of killing the little boy while police interrogated him for murder.
Craig Mulligan was named for the first time today as an investigation into why he was allowed to move in with the boy just five days earlier, despite threatening to kill him, was launched.
The 14-year-old, who was convicted alongside his stepfather John Cole, 40, and stepmother Angharad Williamson, 31, of the five-year-old’s murder, had previously been in the care of foster parents, who described him as ‘pure evil.’
South Wales Police released the new video ahead of a documentary about the investigation that will air this evening.
The Murder of Logan Mwangi, an ITV documentary, gives viewers unprecedented access to South Wales Police homicide detectives as well as never-before-seen police interview footage of Angharad Williamson and John Cole.
The programme follows the events in chronological order, beginning with the first 999 call and ending with the final court case.
Officers are seen entering Craig Mulligan’s home and speaking with Cole and Williamson before arresting Mulligan and placing him in the back of a police car while chewing gum.
During his interview, the adolescent killer is dressed in prison-issued grey tracksuit bottoms and tops and appears calm throughout police questioning.
Mulligan and Williamson were arrested inside Cole’s property around 6.30 p.m. on August 1, 2021.
In an interview, he stated that he had no idea what had happened to Logan, but later admitted that he awoke to hear Williamson say, “Logan is dead.”
Sharing his account of the night, he told investigators: ‘I woke up in the middle of the night then dad come into the living room with me. I know I weren’t meant to do it but we grabbed some of the rubbish in the back garden and we’ve chucked it in the river.
‘Now it was all in like black bags and everything. I don’t know what was in the bags – I can’t remember. Then about 20 minutes after, we went back out to check whether they’d gone down.
‘We didn’t say anything – we were trying to be as quiet as we could because we didn’t want to wake Logan or Angharad.
‘I don’t know if Logan was still there at that point because we didn’t look.’
In a later interview, after Angharad had told detectives that Cole and Craig had abused Logan, Craig said: ‘Can you tell my mum to f*** off for me?’
When the detective asked why, he added: ‘Because she’s trying to blame me and my dad for everything when we haven’t done anything. Neither has my dad. Now I’m just sick of this. She’s just saying whatever she wants to get out of the **** herself.’
The teenager’s identity had been anonymised due to his age, but a judge lifted the reporting restriction after he was today jailed for 15 years. Cole was sentenced to 29 years and Williamson 28 years.
The trio murdered Logan – who had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises, and ‘catastrophic’ internal injuries – before dumping the five-year-old’s pyjama-clad body in the River Ogmore in Bridgend in July 2021.
Mulligan moved into the family home in Bridgend just five days before Logan was killed after the couple’s application for custody was approved by the family courts – despite Logan being on the child protection register and Mulligan’s previous threats to kill him.
He would called Cole ‘dad’ and Williamson ‘mum’ but would not refer to Logan as his brother – describing him only as ‘the five year old’. Cole had been in a relationship with Mulligan’s mother, later becoming her carer.
His foster parents couldn’t cope with his threatening and abusive behaviour and asked Bridgend Social services to remove him from their home. The foster father said: ‘I recall saying to myself that he was going to do something bad. We have been fostering for the best part of 50 years, it was the only time I felt scared for my family.’
The family heard Mulligan say he wanted to kill ‘the five year old’ – meaning Logan – although this was denied by social workers.
Mulligan picked on other children in the foster home, tortured the family’s dog and asked two young girls if they wanted to play a ‘murder game’ and tried to make them get inside black bin bags.
Mulligan was regularly sent home from a local comprehensive school and spent all his time playing adult-rated games on his Xbox. He was on Call of Duty when police arrived at the family home hours after Logan was found.
After his arrest, a support worker heard him say: ‘I love kids. I f***ing love kids. I love to punch kids in the head. It’s orgasmic.’ He told another: ‘I did some bad stuff but I’m not allowed to talk about it.’
The foster family said they made Mulligan’s social worker Debbie Williams aware of their concerns, however Ms Williams denies this.
Today, Judge Mrs Justice Jefford said it was of ‘significant public interest’ to know why Mulligan had been placed into the family home just five days earlier.
‘A key aspect of this case is the relationship between Craig Mulligan and John Cole. He idolised his father. His attitude towards Logan and involvement in his death was driven by that relationship.
‘He assaulted Logan either because he was instructed to do so by John Cole or to emulate John Cole and win his approval.’
She said not naming Mulligan would ‘restrict’ the press’ ability to report on the Child Safeguarding Review.
Cole and Williamson petitioned the family courts to have custody of Mulligan and on July 26, 2021 they won and he came to live with them. Five days later, Logan was dead.
Mulligan was large for his age and had an interest in mixed martial arts, specifically Muay Thai, as well as video games – his username being ‘King hulk’.
During one alleged incident in the home, Mulligan is said to have ‘sweeped’ Logan’s legs from under him while at the same time using his hand to slam his head into the ground.
He had done so, according to Williamson, on the orders of Cole, who had just punched Logan, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground.
Just before 3am on Saturday July 31 Mulligan was captured on CCTV cameras following Cole out of the flat and down to the river where they dumped Logan’s body.
He also joined in carrying out a visible, fake search for Logan as part of the family’s cover-up.
Mulligan was arrested at around 6.30pm on August 1 2021 along with Williamson inside Cole’s property.
In interview, he maintained he did not know what had happened to Logan but later admitted he had awoken to hear Williamson saying ‘Logan is dead’.
After being told by detectives about Williamson’s allegations that he and Cole had attacked Logan, Mulligan said: ‘You can tell my mum to f*** off for me. She’s blaming me and my dad for everything.’
During the trial an anonymity order was placed on Mulligan preventing the reporting of any detail that might identify him.
His counsel said Mulligan had been diagnosed with multiple neurodevelopmental disorders.
Following his conviction and imprisonment for murder and perverting the course of justice, the press successfully applied to have the restriction removed on grounds of public interest and open justice.
Logan, a previously ‘smiling, cheerful little boy’, was discovered in the River Ogmore in Pandy Park on the morning of July 31 2021.
Police found him partially submerged, wearing dinosaur pyjama bottoms and a Spider-Man top just 250 metres from his home.
The youngster had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises, and ‘catastrophic’ internal injuries, which were likened to a high-speed road accident.
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. They also said the injuries were ‘consistent with child abuse’.
Logan had been ‘dehumanised’ by his family in the months and weeks leading up to his death, according to prosecutors.
Logan’s stammer is said to have gotten worse, becoming especially bad around Cole. He began to wet himself more frequently and to self-harm.
Cole told friends he didn’t like Logan, but his attitude changed after he became obsessed with the idea that Williamson had cheated on Logan’s father, Ben Mwangi.
Cole, a former National Front member who nicknamed the five-year-old ‘Coco Pop’, forced the boy to eat Weetabix on family ‘takeaway nights’ while they feasted on KFC, and would tease him about the food he was missing out on.
The family was removed from the child protection register in June 2021, indicating that there was no longer a significant risk of significant harm.
Logan’s house was visited by social workers the day before he died, but no action was taken when he burned his neck on a hot bath tap in May 2021. Cole’s criminal record for violence was also known to social services.
The boy’s death has chilling echoes of the tragic death of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, who suffered a similar terrible fate when his life was put in danger after the country was placed under lockdown.
When the five-year-old broke his arm a year before, police also did nothing. In court, it was revealed that he was pushed down the stairs by the 14-year-old who later killed him.
The court heard how Logan’s teenage killer had threatened to kill his foster family, tortured their dog and asked girls to play a ‘murder game where he would put their bodies in black bags.’
The little boy’s biological father had not seen him since 2019, after Williamson started a new relationship with Cole and stopped him from seeing his son. Cole had also banned Williamson’s mother – Logan’s grandmother – from visiting.
Judge Mrs Justice Jefford said Logan was, ‘subjected to a brutal attack’, telling his killers: ‘Inflicting these injuries on a small, defenceless five-year-old is nothing short of horrific.’
The judge told his killers: ‘You are responsible for Logan’s death and all the anguish that has followed from it. Because he was killed in his own home, it is not possible to be sure what has happened to him.
‘Shortly before his death, at which time he was three feet five inches and weighed only three stone one pound, he was subjected to a brutal attack.’
Today, Logan’s school issued a poignant and powerful tribute to a ‘friendly, energetic, and popular little boy’.
The statement said: ‘The pupils, teachers, staff and governors at Tondu Primary School were all devastated to learn of the death of Logan Mwangi and the school community remains shocked and deeply saddened by his loss.
‘As a friendly, energetic, and popular little boy Logan leaves us with many fond memories. He was a loving, sweet-natured child who was polite and articulate at all times.
‘Logan was always smiling and was described in court by his own teachers as having the kind of smile that could light up a classroom. He was a highly inquisitive child who enjoyed his lessons, particularly when using the outdoor classroom where he would have great fun with his friends.
‘Logan loved playing with his classmates, especially games like hide-and-seek or pretending to be superheroes. His favourite character was always Spiderman and he would display a keen and vivid imagination in his games.
‘Ultimately we remember Logan as being a bright, happy child who was caring and loving and an absolute pleasure to teach. As a school community we continue to feel his loss and to offer support to one another as we look towards the future.
We are also united in our condemnation of the terrible actions of those who ended Logan’s short life in such a cruel and brutal way and are grateful that they have been held accountable for their crimes.. Our thoughts remain with Logan.’