Boy, 5, found in river had 'extreme' injuries, murder case told
#2 -- Live Blog of Trial at link -- Philip Dewey:
16:39PHILIP DEWEY
Prosecutor again comes back to 999 call
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC returns again to the 999 call made by Williamson.
She said: “Williamson called the police – her distress in that call is a completely manufactured and manipulative performance to cover up her involvement in Logan’s death.
“John Cole and [the youth’s] search of the area calling Logan’s name was an elaborate performance to cover up their true involvement in that death.
“John Cole accepts this was put on. He accepts Logan died...and he disposed of his body in the river. The other two defendants deny this.
“Each of those defendants deny murder being in anyway involved in causing Logan’s death.
“John Cole has pleaded guilty to count three, perverting the course of justice… He accepts disposing of Logan’s body and pyjama top.”
17:06PHILIP DEWEY
Jury hear about events according to defendants
The court is told about the three defendants’ defence cases.
Ms Rees said: “[Cole] said he went to bed on July 30 at which time Logan was alive. His case is he was woken in the early hours of the morning by Angharad Williamson at 2am by which time Logan was dead.
“Cole’s case was Williamson told him to remove Logan’s body from the house. He accepts walking along the river and dumping Logan’s body.
“He said it was Williamson’s idea to get of the pyjama top and accepts [the youth] was with him on both occasions. It was him and Williams together who decided to make the false report. John Coles’ case is Williamson did not tell him anything of how she had happened on the discovery of Logan’s dead body.
“Williamson pleaded not guilty to all counts. She denies any knowledge of how Logan met his end. She said she went to bed at 10.30pm and by reason of medication she woke at 5.30am by which time Cole and [the youth] were already up and awake.
“She maintains she genuniely believed Logan was missing in the night and when she was shown CCTV that Cole and [the youth] had taken his body.
"She said she witnessed Cole and [the youth] assaulting Logan on July 29, that Logan was punched to the abdomen and hit his head after having his legs sweeped from underneath him. She said he had stomachache which she treated with Calpol.
"The youth denies any kind of circumstances in which Logan was injured and maintained he genuinely believed Logan had gone missing in the night.
“He accepts accompanying Cole but denies he realised Cole was carrying Logan’s body or disposing of the pyjama top. He believed they were fly-tipping rubbish.
“His case is he first found out Logan was missing when he heard Williamson shouting in the morning.”
17:07PHILIP DEWEY
Logan had Covid and was last seen alive on FaceTime call
The court hears about the case in more detail from Ms Rees. She said: “Logan Mwangi is the victim in this case, aged only five years old at the time of his death.
“On July 21, 2021, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was required to isolate. He was a normal five-year-old acting energetic. The isolation period must have been a testing period for him and the family because he had to be confined at home.
“At the time he was at home he was hidden away from the outside world and no scrutiny about what was going on behind closed doors.
“He was last seen alive on a FaceTime call between Cole and a friend on July 27, 2021.”
17:13PHILIP DEWEY
Youth 'had made threats to kill Logan'
John Cole was Logan’s stepfather and came into his life in 2019 when the defendant began a relationship with Logan's mother Angharad Williamson. At the time of his death he was living at Lower Llansantffraid.
The court heard Cole did not enjoy a bond with Logan and said he “didn’t like" the little boy.
Ms Rees said: “It will be the prosecution case Cole treated Logan unkindly and viewed him differently and Williamson must have known about this.
“Williamson is Logan’s biological mother and had her son from a relationship with Benjamin Mwangi whom she separated with in 2016 when [Logan] was five months old….
“Whatever the state of the maternal bond with Logan must have been seriously fractured in the lead-up to Logan’s death for her to behave in the way she did.
“During and after the period he died the prosecution will say Williamson struggled with parenting Logan and his Covid-related isolation caused stress and frustration which came to a head.”
The court heard the youth defendant was described as a “complex, troubled, and violent boy” who had been trained in the martial art of muay thai, including forceful kicking and punching.
He was said to have “not liked” Logan and had previously made threats to kill him in the days before his death.
Ms Rees said: “His wish had come true as Logan was found dead in the river.”
17:19PHILIP DEWEY
Williamson visited Logan's bed in hospital
Caroline Rees QC, prosecuting, described Angharad Williamson’s “heartfelt and dramatic” 999 call as a “cold and calculated lie” and demonstrated how the defendants put on a “sustained performance” to police.
She added: “Each did their best to manipulate the police to believe their story that Logan had gone missing or been snatched. All along they knew Logan was lying dead in the river.
“The prosecution say CCTV demonstrates that Williamson continued to put on an act when she visited the bed of her child in hospital and persisted in her lie he had gone missing, even when she was in close proximity of his body.”
The court head John Cole made a prepared statement in which he accepted the report Logan was missing was a “complete sham” concocted to cover up the fact Logan had died in the family home. He also accepted he disposed of Logan’s body in the River Ogmore.
Ms Rees said: “He treated Logan as rubbish he was fly-tipping in the river.”
Williamson and the youth maintained they had no knowledge of how Logan died and genuinely believed he had gone missing.
17:30PHILIP DEWEY
Williamson and youth seen on camera in confrontation
The court is shown CCTV footage of John Cole and the youth leaving the house at Lower Llansantffraid and of lights being switched on and off in Logan’s bedroom.
Footage was played of an incident on July 29, 2021, at 2.52pm where the youth was seen in a physical confrontation with Angharad Williamson.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: “Williamson said on July 29 there was a serious assault by Cole and [the youth] on Logan. We wonder whether this confrontation is connected to what happened on that day.
“Williamson failed to do anything or seek help for a day. The questions is to why she couldn’t seek help for such a vulnerable five-year-old child, her own son, who was attacked by an adult man and [the youth].”
Accounts from eyewitnesses described Williamson as “hysterical” during this confrontation.
17:48PHILIP DEWEY
Williamson did not mention alleged attack on Logan to social worker
At 5.23am on July 30, the court hears, someone appeared at Logan’s bedroom window before it was shut and opened again on numerous occasions.
At 12.23pm on July 30 Angharad Williamson left the house and went to the Lifestyle Express store where she purchased alcohol and cigarettes before returning to the house at 12.33pm.
At 1.34pm social worker Deborah Williams visited the home for a matter not related to Logan and left at 2.04pm. She was denied entry to the property by Williamson on the grounds Logan had Covid but Ms Williams spoke to Williamson and Cole on the doorstep.
Williamson described Logan as being “up and down” but did not air any concerns or ask to speak to Ms Williams privately.
Cole asked her about her about child benefits and then told her he didn’t need her anymore and she could “*advertiser censored* off now”.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: “If Williamson, as she claims in interview, saw Cole and [the youth] seriously assault Logan on July 29 and she was not involved why did she never tell Deborah Williams during her 20-minute visit? What did she have to hide?”
18:05PHILIP DEWEY
More CCTV shown to jury
Further CCTV is played.
At 7.41pm on July 30 Logan’s curtains are opened and again at 9.46pm but are closed at 9.47pm and the lights are turned off. At 10.09pm the lights are switched back on again.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: “The prosecution say for some reason one or more than one person is in and out of Logan’s bedroom. We say Williamson and [the youth] must have been lying about what happened to Logan in the night.”
At 12.36am on July 31 the lights were switched on again and came back on at 12.41am. They were next on at 1.21am. They were also switched on and off at 1.49am, 2.08am, 2.10am, 2.20am, and 2.22am.
18:11PHILIP DEWEY
Cole caught on camera carrying Logan's body
CCTV is now shown of Cole and the youth at 2.43am on July 31.
Caroline Rees QC, prosecuting, tells the court: “Two figures are seen on a side path to Lower Llansantffraid. There is no issue these two are Cole and [the youth] who are close to each other and it must have been obvious to one about what the other was doing.”
The defendants turn right up the pavement.
The prosecutor said: “You will see a close-up shows Cole is carrying something. The prosecution say you can see a light-coloured cross type part on Cole’s back.
“Cole accepts he is carrying the dead body of Logan during the trip. The light cross on his back may well be the arms of a lifeless Logan across his shoulders. [The youth] is close behind.
"[The youth] said he did not realise Cole was carrying Logan’s dead body. The prosecution say the CCTV shows the infeasibility of that account. It’s impossible Cole could carry Logan in such a confined area without [the youth] knowing what he was carrying.”
18:12PHILIP DEWEY
Williamson's account 'a total sham'
John Cole was said to have carried Logan's body up to the river, a considerable distance from Lower Llansantffraid.
Caroline Rees QC said: “Without doubt Williamson’s apparently dramatic 999 call and everything she says and does is a total sham designed to cover up her own involvement.
“Cole, the youth, and Logan, who is now dead, are out of the property and there’s significant movement at Lower Llansantffraid, in particular at Logan’s window.”
The prosecutor said Willamson’s assertions that she only discovered Logan was missing at 5.30am were contradicted by the CCTV evidence.
At 2.44am the curtain in Logan’s room is opened again.
Ms Rees said: “She did not contact the police or the emergency services. Instead she was looking for incriminating evidence that required disposal to cover her own tracks and that of her co-defendants.
“She did that because she was as involved in Logan’s death as the two male defendants."
18:23PHILIP DEWEY
Dinosaur pyjama top hidden in secluded area of woodland
At 2.44am on July 31 last year CCTV shows the curtains of Logan's bedroom were closed again and at 2.48am the light is turned off.
At 2.51am Cole and the youth arrive at the Lower Llansantffraid property.
At 2.57am the light in Logan’s bedroom turns on and stays on for five minutes.
At 3.16am Cole and the youth are seen leaving the house again.
Caroline Rees QC, prosecuting, says: “They leave the house to dispose of Logan’s dinosaur pyjama top which Cole later said had been ripped when Williamson handled Logan roughly, throwing him on the bed.
“He said Williamson gave him the top and told him to get rid of it, the inference being it was evidently significant.
“The top was disposed of in a secluded area of woodland.”
Photographs are shown to the jury of Logan wearing the top.
It was found some distance away from his body and was alleged to have not intended to be found.
Ms Rees said: "The ripped dinosaur top is an important piece of evidence. [Williamson] removed it while the light was on in Logan’s bedroom and she was home alone. She knew it could be a clue to her involvement in Logan’s death.”
Trial Day - 1, End of live blog.
. I saw them on law pages so I was expecting some reporting.
