Posted on 04/21/2022 9:59:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
These sweet images show Logan Mwangi as he should be remembered – a sweet and loving schoolboy with an infectious smile and a "wicked laugh". The five-year-old was described as a "happy, caring, loving, and intelligent child" who was a "total joy" to staff at the school he attended.
Logan was found dead on July 31 last year in a river near his home in Bridgend. Logan’s mother Williamson, 31, of Lower Llansantffraid, Sarn, Bridgend, and stepdad John Cole, 40, of Maesglas, Ynysawdre, Bridgend, should have been the people he could trust more than anyone else in the world. Instead they murdered him. A third defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, also pleaded not guilty to murder and all three stood trial at Cardiff Crown Court where on Thursday they were convicted of murder.
Prosecutors alleged Logan had been subjected to a “brutal and sustained assault” prior to his death and suffered the kind of injuries usually seen in car crash victims before his body was dumped in the River Ogmore. You can get all the verdicts now the case has concluded and check all the latest developments by going here.
Read more:Go here to recap the prosecution case in full
Following the trial South Wales Police released two new images of Logan. One shows the smiling youngster waving his hands at the camera while in another he is wearing the distinctive dinosaur pyjamas that featured prominently during the case.
During the trial Wendy John, a learning support officer at Tondu Primary School, gave evidence about Logan. She said: “I first met Logan in 2019 when he attended pre-nursery class. He was a happy, caring, loving, and intelligent child. He was always pleasant and polite and had a wicked laugh. He always made me happy and was a perfect child. He loved school life and helping teachers. He could not do enough for us and asked us if we were okay. He was a total joy and amazing." You can read more of what she had to say here.
Away from his happy time at school, though, Logan's home life was a tormented one. The lengthy murder trial heard how he was denied food, subjected to physical punishment, and shouted and sworn at.
Former couple Daniel O'Brien and Jodie Simmonds gave evidence during the case. Mr O'Brien went into the witness box first. He said he met Cole in 2017 and they used to train together in the gym five days a week. He later met Williamson and Logan, who he said called him “Uncle Dan”.
He said he and Cole were "training partners" but they had lost touch in 2019. On July 31 last year he received a call saying Logan had been found in the river and died. He went and bought flowers, cards, and a teddy bear in order to pay his respects. He said: “I was in shock, you know.” Mr O’Brien visited Cole and Williamson at Maesglas and stayed for two and a half hours.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC asked him: “How did Angharad react?” The witness replied: "She was acting really strange, nervous. Something weren’t right like, you know… She said she missed punishing Logan. I was in shock. I looked at [Jodie] and shook my head. [Cole] was heaving a lot like he was going to be sick.”
Ms Rees said: “How did [the youth] act?” Mr O’Brien said: “It was like he was celebrating – he seemed happy. It was a shock really – I couldn’t believe it like.” Mr O'Brien also recounted how Cole had told him in 2019 that he "didn't like Logan".
EVIDENCE SHOWN DURING LOGAN MWANGI MURDER TRIAL
When Ms Simmonds gave evidence she recalled an incident at Christmas 2019 when Cole and Logan were in the little boy’s room. She said: “Jay was sat in the doorway, Logan was in a push-up position… [His arms] looked tired and they were shaking. I remember them shaking. He was upset, crying, and had a runny nose… I was told he had been naughty and needed to learn."
Ms Rees said: “Who told you that?” Ms Simmonds said: “Jay (a nickname for John Cole)… Logan collapsed, he lost the weight on his arms. Jay told him to get back in position and his time would start again… [Logan] followed the instructions… He was three, four years old…
“I went into the kitchen with Jay and discussed with him how old Logan was and if it was appropriate to be dealing with Logan that way… I was agitated, angry, frustrated at what I had listened to… He didn’t listen, shrugged it off, wasn’t concerned at all… I was upset… I got Angharad and told her… She was in the back garden smoking.”
Ms Rees said: “What did she say?” Ms Simmonds said: “That he needs to learn because his behaviour had been so poor… That Logan needed to learn his lesson.” Ms Rees said: “Did she appear bothered?” Ms Simmonds said: “No… I left the property. They knew I was upset about what I had witnessed… I tried to break away from the family.”
On another occasion she described how Cole prevented Logan from eating KFC after she bought a bucket of fast food to share. She said the little boy "was being brushed off and being told he wasn’t allowed to eat the KFC with us because of his behaviour" with Cole telling him he wasn't allowed the treat as he had been "misbehaving". Ms Simmonds said: “[Cole] said he hadn’t been good enough to deserve fast food." Logan was only allowed Weetabix, she said, was Cole gloated about "how tasty the food was, almost rubbing it in".
The witness also said there was a big change in Logan’s personality and appearance in the time she knew him. "He was withdrawn, lost visible weight at the time, his complexion was quite pale. His demeanour was very down, quiet.” During cross-examination she added: “He was becoming more withdrawn because he was being punished all the time… He was being sent to his room, being told off all the time, being denied cakes and confectionery.”
Kevin Gorman, a neighbour of Williamson in Lower Llansantffraid, Sarn, described Logan as a "chatty and happy young boy" when he gave evidence but added: "In the last 12 to 18 months his demeanour did change quite a lot. He went very withdrawn and quiet.”
He said Cole and Williamson had a "volatile" relationship characterised by arguments. Asked about the way they spoke to Logan he said: “As time went on closer to what we’re talking about today it was getting worse and worse shouting at him – and I mean shouting at him. He would get quite upset, poor boy."
Prosecutor Ms Rees asked him: “Were you aware of incidents of how he was treated?” Mr Gorman said: “There was a number. Two weeks before Logan’s demise I could hear Ann [Williamson] going out the door to school. He ran out to the gate and she said: ‘Don’t go through that f****** gate’.
“[Logan] shouted down to her friend with two young children – she was coming up the path. Logan shouted and [Williamson] said: “Logan I told you stop your f****** shouting, everyone can f****** hear you, shut up’. She said: ‘He’s being a f****** d***head again’. Ann said that to her friend about Logan.”
Ms Rees also asked: “If Logan was shouted at how did he react?” Mr Gorman said: “If shouting was going on I heard him cry a lot. I can’t say every week, every day. Some weeks it could be every day and some weeks it would go without nothing.”
During his evidence in the trial Cole claimed while Logan was denied takeaway food “probably three or four times” he had been given other food instead. He also told the court he got the youngster to do press-ups “to burn up energy”. Cole said: “We used to have takeaway nights and stuff. If he’d been really naughty we wouldn’t have given him the takeaway but we’d give him other food….. It happened probably three or four times.”
He also laid the blame for a burn on Logan's neck at Williamson's door. Cole said: “Basically me and Angharad were in the kitchen. He was running around, being quite boisterous. Angharad took the teaspoon out of her coffee and put it on the back of his neck.”
Mr Elias asked if Cole was concerned about that and the defendant replied: “Yes. She said it wasn’t a big deal and her dad used to do it to her. I said: ‘You can’t do that’ and we reported it to social services as an [accidental] burn.”
The defendant was also asked about a fracture to Logan’s collarbone several weeks before his death. Cole said: “I weren’t aware of a fracture. I know he hurt his shoulder after falling off a wheelchair but neither of us were aware of a fracture.” Logan didn’t have any medical treatment because the couple didn’t believe he needed it, the court heard.
In the wake of the convictions NSPCC Cymru called for a child safeguarding practice review. Tracey Holdsworth, assistant director of the organisation, said: “The treatment of Logan Mwangi by people who should have been caring for him was horrific but for his death to have involved another young person is even more shocking.
“However we cannot lose sight of the fact that one of those found guilty is still a child and the response to him must be one of both punishment and appropriate support. A Child Safeguarding Practice Review must now leave no stone unturned in establishing exactly what took place before Logan died and whether more could have been done to protect him. There must also be more investment in children’s services in Wales to ensure they are able to provide comprehensive support to any child at risk of harm and be better equipped to prevent a tragedy such as this happening again in Wales.”
Senior investigating officer detective inspector Lianne Rees, of the South Wales Police major crime investigations team, said: “Logan was a beautiful, bright, and innocent five-year-old little boy with his whole life ahead of him.
“It is difficult to imagine how Logan must have suffered at the hands of those who he trusted and inconceivable that those who should have loved and protected him betrayed him in the worst possible way. Attempts to cover up the crime in the hours following Logan’s death and the subsequent web of lies and deceit that were to follow are an indication of their callousness and lack of remorse."
Those sure are some common Welsh names.
Diversity is our greatest strength.
Things like this make me question, “Is there a God?”, and people will answer, “Free Will”.
Where was the little, boy’s free will?
Baby Peter Connelly’s mother’s boyfriend was referred to as “stepfather” in the U.K., but he was just a man that moved in her counsel housing apartment. Tragic and horrific case that gave me sleepless nights for months.
I can’t read this because the headline made me very sick at heart.
What a horrible thing, that poor kid.
Import third world become third world,
“Things like this make me question, “Is there a God?”, and people will answer, “Free Will”.
Where was the little, boy’s free will”?
I feel the same way.
Angharad is indeed a Welsh name.
Logan is a Scottish name.
John is an English name.
Diversity is our greatest strength.
Welsh and English people have lived in Wales for quite some time.
Are you sure you read the right article?
I just don’t understand it at all.
[[Things like this make me question, “Is there a God?”, and people will answer, “Free Will”.]]
The answer is correct- however-
The downside to free will is that innocent people have to suffer at hre hands of evil people- God warned man not to eat of the tree- that this woudl happen- man didn’t listen-
Your question seems to be along the lines o f “God sees it happen but does nothing to stop it- Why?”
The following might help
https://www.christian-thinktank.com/2stds.html
In it he brings up several points we usually don’t think about such as ‘God doesn’t interfere because He doesn’t want to be seen as puppeteer us- in otherwords- if he did- there wouldn’t be a fee will at all because He would be controlling the actions of everyone- Love needs free will otherwise it is coerced- a coerced person does not have free will- they are puppets-
There are many very good arguments for free will that most folks aren’t even aware of- the fella i n the link above covers a number of them in that longish article if you want to study why free will is necessary, and why evil must happen as a result if free will?- Either we have free will, or we are coerced puppets with no real will of our own- IF we have no free will as mankind, then we can rightfully accuse God of being a manipulator to get people to act against what should be a free will- in otherwords- He woudl be a slavemaster- and Not a God who allows mankind to make up their own mind about how they wish to live-
Satan could accuse God by saying “So and so only obeys you because you force him to and won’t allow him free will”
but, because there is free will, man is free to love god IN-SPITE OF (key point) the evils in this world (which results in a true love- not one hat is coerced, or bribed), or to turn against God because Free will means there is evil i n this world-
Free will is very important- but unfortunately, along with free will comes sin- and evil- and sin and evil means innocent people will suffer - but again God warned that this woudl happen, and man decided he wanted to ignore God, and the fall happened- and sin reigns in a world that is run by Satan for now- within bounds-
Anyways- the above link is to a site that has a load of answers to very tough questions- good questions that most peopel feel- like you feel- it’s good to ask- but be open to the answers too- in order to have free will, there MUST be possibility that people will choose evil- and because of the fall in the garden of eden, it MUST be that sin causes all kinds of suffering of innocent people
See post 10 for some good explanations at the link- also go through the site- there is a ton of info on the site- that tackles very tough questions that people have about God and why he must allow what he does-
God is here and with that little boy. Wicked events don’t start with a murder but in the every day stuff that people don’t consider. A series of choices and attitudes that build up over time until it progresses into a monstrous action.
Sin always progresses in a persons life if they don’t repent and turn away from it. We can’t blame God if the parents never accepted Christ but chose to live a sinful life instead. And by choosing sin, they fell and destroyed the life of a child.
Thank you.
Free Will doesn’t mean we can do simply anything we want or can think up.
If it did, all the dozens of bullies I had over growing up would not be alive today. Rightly or wrongly.
Here is another common argument and good question
“Why didn’t God stop the process before it started, if He knew of the massive amounts of suffering that would befall many of His creatures??”
https://www.christian-thinktank.com/gr5part1.html
God made a decision, in order to allow free will, to not intervene directly in many cases- in order that free will would be true-
As he states- “The lives of good and bad people intertwine inseparably” and i will add “So that man can experience free will, and not be coerced into a relationship with God. If they choose to serve God, then it is of their own free will DESPITE what the evil that is present on earth does to them or their loved ones”-
in hte following he tackles ‘pushback’ to his assertion that in life, people experience more good than bad
“Pushback: “I feel like you have somehow pulled a sleight-of-hand trick on me, bud…how can you possibly argue that the lives of people with intense suffering, prolonged abuse, and/or early and innocent violent death are still “more good than bad”?! This sounds as sterile and insensitive a position as can be…like trying to philosophically define the problem away.””
https://www.christian-thinktank.com/gr5part3.html
it’s an important read because it tackles the notion that individuals might have to suffer all their lives because evil is infact present-
and note- that he cites many of the philosophers throughout his articles- as they have all attempted to tackle these very same questions because they are of such importance-
anyways- my post is too long already but i thought if you were interested, the fella has a very unique way of thinking about problematic issues that i know i myself am not capable of seeing until it is pointed out to me-
That’s where God’s “Restrainer” (ie a universal moral code, and the church who fight against evil etc) all come into play- The ‘Restrainer” (the church, or body of Christ, and the universal moral code) are agents of good that help to keep evil in check, but of course some people are so evil or so removed from the Restraining influences, that they can’t be stopped-
Thank you, I’m going to bookmark.
I’m also angry that these people seem to get away with what they did. I looked at some videos describing Logan Mwangi’s injuries, and wonder what could drive people to such a thing.
He was totally helpless. They need to be made an example of so this doesn’t constantly happen.
Good points-
[[We can’t blame God if the parents never accepted Christ]]
Exactly right- Evil unfortunately is a part of this life- We can do all we can to try to prevent it- but it’s so prevalent that we can’t prevent all of it. God could if he chose to- but then we woudl not have free will, any of us- and we could charge God with being cruel and manipulative and uncaring of our desires- True love must include the ability to choose NOT to love- then if the person does choose o love, especially despite any evils they may encounter, then that is true love- without the ability to choose, it becomes robotic obedience- not love-
it’s good that you are angry- this is ‘righteous anger’, and shows that you value moral codes- What happened to this child, and many many other folks all over the world is horrendous indeed- and just goes to show what depravity leads to- it is a warning to folks who will heed it that when you indulge sinful impulses, it can and often does lead to horrendous acts-
The site i listed- the fella struggles with deep depression, but is a real brain- He has helped me through some tougher life issues- and just seems to know how to dig through questions to really get to the meat of the issues- he can be wordy (like me i suppose) but it’s worth the time on important issues that we can struggle with-
You’re welcome- it’s a great site- with a wealth of info on it- info about very important questions, tough questions that both saved and unsaved folks have- he tackles skeptic’s objections very well- and handles growing Christian’s questions very well too-
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