Angharad Williamson, 34, watched the pre-inquest into her five-year-old son Logan Mwangi’s death from prison, where she is serving at least 28 years for his murder
A mum who murdered her five-year-old son before his body was found dumped in a river has attended a pre-inquest into the child’s death.
Angharad Williamson, 34, watched the hearing online from HMP Downview in Surrey, where she is serving at least 28 years for the murder of Logan Mwangi.
The youngster was found with 56 external injuries, as well as a torn liver and trauma to the brain following a horrific campaign of abuse at his family home in Bridgend, South Wales.
Despite being under the care of social services, none of Logan’s injuries prior to his death – a broken arm, broken collarbone and burns to his skin – raised alarm bells with authorities.
Williamson’s then partner John Cole, 41, and stepson Craig Mulligan, 14, were also convicted of the murder of Logan after his death in July 2021.
Cole dumped Logan’s dead body in the River Ogmore – a spot where he would regularly fly-tip rubbish just 400 yards from the family home, reports Wales Online.
A pre-inquest review into Logan’s death began today at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court before coroner David Regan.
Representatives from local health chiefs, social services and South Wales Police all attended the largely administrative hearing which was held both in court and via Teams.
Williamson had denied Logan’s murder and claimed she was asleep when his body was dumped at the river. But evidence found she had been using her phone throughout the night and turning lights on and off in the house when nobody else was home.
Williamson tried to have her conviction overturned via the Court of Appeal but her bid was rejected in January 2023.
The court heard she has since requested a former senior police officer to attend the hearing as a lay person to carry out a review of her conviction to see if she can further appeal to the criminal cases review board.
The former officer, Tony Thompson, said he was working “pro-bono” to carry out an investigation and would attend the hearing.
Horrific details of Logan’s abuse were laid bare during a nine week trial in 2022.
The court was told how Logan had tested positive for Covid-19 and was treated like a prisoner in the days leading up to his death, with the five-year-old confined to his tiny bedroom behind a locked child gate.
He was repeatedly punished by Williamson and Cole when he tried to leave the room and interact with his family, the court heard. This was also despite their knowledge that Logan would self-harm by biting himself until he bled.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told the trial: “He had been kept like a prisoner in his small bedroom – a room described by Angharad Williamson as ‘like a dungeon’ with the curtains closed and a barred child’s gate stopping him from moving about the rest of the flat.
“That little boy was being made to face a wall as food was being delivered so other members of the house did not catch Covid. What must have he thought of the way his life was in these 10 days?
“He was dehumanised by each of the defendants.”
Logan had been on the child protection register for seven months before his death – but following a review, he was stepped down from being a “child in protection” to a “child in need” just weeks before he was killed.
Ms Rees said Angharad Williamson was “a liar” who “tried to portray herself as a loving mother who was over-protective to Logan’s interests – this was, as so much is about Angharad Williamson in the context of this case, a total sham”.
“She has been exposed as a selfish woman whose only protective interest was to herself,” she added. “Even by her own words she accepts she was a ‘s*** mother’ to Logan – a rare moment of truth during her time in the witness box.”
Medical experts said Logan’s injuries were such that they were compared to a “fall from a great height” or a “high velocity road traffic collision”.
Williamson, Cole and Mulligan were all jailed for life. Williamson was given a minimum term of 28 years.
A further hearing into Logan’s death is scheduled for November.