In a review into why he was let to live with the youngster just five days before despite having made threats against his life, the adolescent who killed his stepbrother Logan Mwangi was today identified for the first time.
Craig Mulligan, who along with his stepfather John Cole, 40, and stepmother Angharad Williamson, 31, was found guilty of killing the five-year-old, had previously been in the care of foster parents who labeled him as “pure evil.”
The teen’s identity had been kept anonymous because of his age, but when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison today, the judge lifted the ban on naming him. Williamson and Cole received 28 and 29 year sentences, respectively.
Despite Logan being listed as a child in need of protection and Mulligan’s prior threats to harm him, Mulligan moved into the family’s Bridgend house after the couple’s application for custody was allowed by the family courts.
Although he addressed Williamson and Cole as “mother” and Logan as “the five-year-old,” he never referred to them as his brothers.
Cole had dated Mulligan’s mother and eventually took care of her.
His foster parents requested that Bridgend Social Services remove him from their house because they were unable to handle his threatening and aggressive behavior.
“I remember thinking to myself that he was going to do something horrible, but I didn’t believe it would be murder or that it would happen so soon,” the foster father recalled.
It was the one time in our nearly 50 years of foster care that I felt afraid for my family.
Mulligan allegedly told the foster home he wanted to kill Logan, but social officials refuted this.
Mulligan was rude to the family dog, lifting it up by the back legs days after it had undergone surgery for a damaged pelvis, and bullied other kids in the foster home.
He allegedly also sprayed deodorant into a neighbor’s dog’s eyes during the trial.
Mulligan spent all of his time playing adult-rated video games on his Xbox and was frequently expelled from a nearby comprehensive school. When police arrived to the family home at Bridgend, hours after Logan was discovered in the River Ogmore, he was playing Call of Duty.
A support staff member overheard him say, “I love kids,” after his arrest. I f***ing love kids. I enjoy head-punching children.
It is currently of “great public interest,” according to Judge Mrs. Justice Jefford, to know why Mulligan was sent to the family home just five days ago.
The bond between Craig Mulligan and John Cole is a crucial factor in this case. His dad was his hero. That relationship influenced his behavior toward Logan and his role in his demise.
“He assaulted Logan either because John Cole told him to or because he was trying to be like John Cole and get John Cole’s approval.”
She claimed that withholding Mulligan’s name would’restrict’ how the press covered the Child Safeguarding Review.
Logan was quarantined in his bedroom with a baby gate blocking his exit on July 20, 2021, after testing positive for Covid.
On July 31, at Bridgend, South Wales, his body was discovered several hours later half submerged in the River Ogmore. He was discovered barely 250 yards from his house while still dressed in dinosaur pajamas and a Spider-Man shirt.
The schoolboy, who was only 3 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 3 pounds at the time of his death, was malnourished, beaten, and made to perform push-ups until he passed out.
Logan had endured a “brutal and persistent assault” in the hours or days before his death, resulting in 56 visible cuts and bruises, “catastrophic” inside wounds compared to a high-speed car collision, and other injuries.
Experts deemed Logan’s wounds “consistent with child abuse,” and prosecutors said that in the months and weeks preceding his passing, Logan’s family had “dehumanized” him.
Logan’s stammer had gotten worse, getting especially terrible around Cole, and the terrified youngster started wetting himself more frequently and cutting himself.
On family “takeaway nights,” when they gorged on KFC, Cole, a former National Front member who gave the five-year-old the nickname “Coco Pop,” had him eat Weetabix and teased him about the food he was missing out on.
The family was taken off the child protection register in June 2021, indicating that it was thought there was no longer a serious risk of harm.
Logan’s home was visited by social services the day before he passed away, yet they did nothing after he burned his neck on a hot bath tap in May 2021. Cole’s violent criminal history was also known to social services.
The tragic death of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, whose life was also put in peril after the nation was placed on lockdown, bears frightening parallels to the boy’s murder.
When the five-year-old fractured his arm a year earlier, police similarly did nothing. In court, it was revealed that the 14-year-old who later assisted in his murder had shoved him down the steps.
The teenager who murdered Logan allegedly threatened to kill his foster family, tortured their dog, and persuaded girls to participate in a “murder game” in which their bodies would be placed in black bags, according to testimony given in court.
Since Williamson began a new connection with Cole and barred the boy’s biological father from visiting him, the child’s father had not seen him. Logan’s grandma, Williamson, was likewise prohibited from visiting by Cole.
Logan was “subjected to a savage attack,” according to Judge Mrs. Justice Jefford, who warned his killers: “Inflicting these injuries on a little, defenseless five-year-old is nothing short of horrible.”
You are to blame for Logan’s death and all the suffering that has resulted from it, the judge warned his assailants. It is impossible to know for sure what has happened to him because he was murdered in his own home.
He was the victim of a horrific attack just before he passed away, when he was only three stone one pound and stood three feet five inches tall.
Williamson and the adolescent were also found guilty of perverting the course of justice, a crime Cole had previously confessed to before the trial.
Cole allegedly informed the couple’s friends that he disliked Logan, and other friends claimed that he became obsessed with the notion that Williamson had cheated on Logan with Ben Mwangi.
Cole was hesitant to let Logan see the baby after Williamson gave birth to his own child and later claimed the boy had attempted to smother the child.
Following Logan’s broken arm in August 2020, medical professionals referred a safeguarding case to the police.
By March, Logan and his younger sibling had been given their own social worker due to worries about Cole.
Logan was locked in his bedroom with a baby gate blocking his exit on July 20 after testing positive for Covid-19.
“He had been kept like a prisoner in his small bedroom in the flat you saw,” said Caroline Rees QC, the prosecutor. “Williamson likened it to a dungeon.”
The youth’s foster family claimed to have overheard him telling them that he wanted to kill Logan.
The young person was also heard singing, “I love kids, I f****** love kids, I love to punch kids in the head, it’s orgasmic,” according to a support worker.
Logan injured his collarbone a few weeks before to his passing, but no medical attention was ever sought for him.
The 14-year-old child had vowed to kill his foster family after seeing The Purge and urged girls to join a murder game where he would put their bodies in black bags. He appeared uninterested as he munched on chocolate bars while watching the murder trial.
The court heard that after he allegedly pulled the family pet up by its rear legs after an operation and sprayed deodorant in its eyes, “even the dog was terrified of him.”
Cole was seen on security footage taking Logan’s lifeless body from the apartment through a field and toward the river, where he was discovered by police on July 31 just before daybreak.
After killing him, his mother was shown on tape acting confused and crying like a crocodile.
According to experts, Logan could only have been subjected to a “brutal and sustained assault” in the days or hours before his death if that is what caused the injuries.
The injuries were also described as “consistent with child maltreatment.”
Williamson yelling that Logan was dead woke Cole up, according to Cole, who then panicked.
The prosecution used CCTV footage that showed Williamson was awake and knowing Logan was dead to prove he turned on and off a bedroom light while Cole and the minor were out.
Cole claimed that Williamson sent him outside once more to conceal his torn pajama top after disposing of the boy’s body.
The teen didn’t testify during the trial.
A touching and moving eulogy to a “friendly, lively, and popular little kid” was released by Logan’s school today.
The Tondu Primary School community remains in shock and profound sadness over the loss of Logan Mwangi, the statement read.
“The students, teachers, staff, and governors at Tondu Primary School were all crushed to learn of Logan Mwangi’s death.
As a warm, vivacious, and well-liked young child, Logan leaves us with many happy memories. He was a nice, kind-hearted child who always spoke politely and in a clear manner.
“Logan was always grinning and had the kind of smile that could brighten a classroom,” his instructors testified in court.
He was a very inquisitive youngster who enjoyed learning, especially in the outside classroom where he and his buddies would have a lot of fun.
Logan cherished his time spent playing with his peers, especially when they engaged in hide-and-seek or superhero-themed activities.
In his games, he would always play the role of Spiderman, who was his favorite character.
In the end, Logan will be remembered as a smart, joyful boy who was kind and loving and an absolute joy to teach.
As a school community, we are still grieving his loss and supporting one another as we move forward.
We are all in agreement that Logan’s brief life should not have been ended in such a cruel and violent manner, and we are happy that those responsible have been brought to justice. Logan continues to be in our thoughts.