UK - Logan Mwangi, 5, found dead in Wales River, Bridgend, 31 July 2021 *arrests, inc. minor* #4

[Skigh]

Hope she asks him why, among all the injuries, there were none that would be expected to be seen after CPR.
A strong adult male giving CPR to a five-year-old child would break ribs, surely.

If Logan's knees were up to his chest CPR would be impossible to be done.

 

[katydid23]

Ms Rees is on fire today

Ms Rees said: “You knew how he died. This story of CPR is all made up. You didn’t call an ambulance because you were one of the people who killed him….. You and the others involved had applied extreme blunt force to this little boy and the account of waking up and doing CPR is all made up. The last thing you wanted was the authorities seeing Logan’s body and that’s why it was important to get rid of the body.”

Cole said: “It wasn’t like that.”

 

[Moll]

Skigh - I was about to say the same, to me it sounds as if no one could have done CPR on Logan's battered little body.

 

[Sooty]

He was probably hoping, just like Savannah Brockhill did in Star Hobson case, that the abdominal injuries could be attributed to badly done CPR which is why he gave this line in his statement.

 

[Alyce]

It's always tricky trying to accurately assess "tone of voice" from written text, but is anyone feeling like Ms Rees has got JC feeling rather prickly? She might yet push him into something incriminating.

Prickly is exactly the word I just used to describe him. I hope he continues to feel under pressure.

 

[ChloLo]

Regarding Logan’s knees being drawn up, it takes around 2-6 hours after death for rigor mortis to set in.

 

[nothinonyou]

Regarding Logan’s knees being drawn up, it takes around 2-6 hours after death for rigor mortis to set in.

they described how he was found in the river, can anyone remember? I think they said the same position, knees up to the chest. In that case, obviously no CPR was attempted. Surely they will point that out in court

 

[Sooty]

'You decided to dump the body of a dead five-year-old'
The trial resumes and prosecutor Caroline Rees QC continues cross-examining defendant John Cole.

Ms Rees said: “It wasn’t long after Logan died the decision was made to dump his body.”

Cole said: “There wasn’t a lot of thought process.”

Ms Rees said: “Was it you who decided to dump Logan’s body?”

Cole said: “I don’t know.”

Ms Rees said: “Was it Angharad?”

Cole said: “I don’t know….. It wasn’t really conversation, there was a lot of panic. Angaharad said: ‘What do we do?’ and I said: ‘What do you want me to do?’...... One of us suggested it, I don’t know."

Ms Rees said: “You decided to dump the body of a dead five-year-old.”

Cole said: “I was in shock and I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He added: “When I asked Angharad she said it was a freak accident.”

Ms Rees said: “Somebody reaches a decision to get rid of the dead body. You or Angharad?” Cole said: “Yes.”

Ms Rees said: “What was the point of getting rid of Logan’s body?” Cole said: “To say he had gone missing in the middle of the night.”

Ms Rees said: “To deceive people.” Cole said: “At first.”

Ms Rees also asked: “Did you give a moment’s thought to Logan?” Cole said: “Yes but I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Ms Rees said: “You were thinking clearly enough to pack him in a Nike holdall.” Cole said: “Not a lot of thought process went into that.”

Logan Mwangi murder trial continues – updates from court

 

[Alicethroughtheglass]

If you were doing it properly perhaps but, I wonder if Cole was trained in CPR?

Even a professional would leave behind injuries when performing CPR. It is by nature very rough, and medical professionals wouldn’t care about a broken rib when trying to preserve the life of their patient, for instance.

 

[Sooty]

Rsbm

Ms Rees said: “What was the point of getting rid of Logan’s body?” Cole said: “To say he had gone missing in the middle of the night.”


There. You. Go. Cole.

There was a ‘thought process’. There was a plan.

 

[Sooty]

Cole says there 'wasn't a lot of thought process' to putting Logan's body into holdall bag
Defendant John Cole, who is being cross-examined by prosecutor Caroline Rees QC, was asked about the Nike bag in further detail. In a document provided to the court by Cole’s legal team he said Angharad Williamson had passed him the bag.

When asked if this was the case Cole said: “It must have been.” Williamson shouts out at this point.

Ms Rees said: “Both you and Angharad put Logan’s dead body into that bag sitting in court. How did you do that?”

Cole said: “There wasn’t a lot of thought process into it and I wasn’t thinking clearly."

Ms Rees said: “You didn’t put much thought into putting a dead five-year-old’s body into a bag?”

Cole said: “I don’t know.”

The defendant was asked if the bag was a lie made up after he realised how close the youth had been standing next to him on CCTV and he wished to cover for him. Cole said: “No.”

Stills of the CCTV are shown to the defendant and the jury.

Ms Rees said: “Can you see the white crosses? Are those Logan’s arms?”

Cole said: “No, it’s a white tick on the bag.”

Ms Rees said: “He comes along beside you and must have known Logan was dead in your arms.”

Cole said: “He wasn’t in my arms.”

The defendant was asked why he didn’t mention putting Logan in the bag in his police interviews.

Cole said: “I was ashamed about putting him in the bag in the first place….. I was ashamed of all of it, I regret every decision I made….. I made a lot of bad decisions and did a lot of bad things. I was all over the place.

Ms Rees said: “You raised the issue of the bag to cover for [the youth]. You’re trying to save him.”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees added: “You went through the gate and over the bridge into the park together and you’re lying to the court about that.”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “He played a full part in everything that happened to Logan’s death and the removal of his body.”

Cole said: “No.”

Logan Mwangi murder trial continues – updates from court

 

[mrazda71]

Even a professional would leave behind injuries when performing CPR. It is by nature very rough, and medical professionals wouldn’t care about a broken rib when trying to preserve the life of their patient, for instance.

Yes, that was my point. It's not how it looks on TV shows and I doubt Cole is CPRVtrained so he wouldn't know that, done properly, it's fairly brutal but in many cases, saves lives.

 

[Cherwell]

Yes, that was my point. It's not how it looks on TV shows and I doubt Cole is CPRVtrained so he wouldn't know that, done properly, it's fairly brutal but in many cases, saves lives.

All the more reason to question him on it.

 

[Sooty]

'One of you made a deliberate decision to put a Spiderman top on a dead child… Was it you?'
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC continues asking defendant John Cole about when he disposed of Logan Mwangi's body in Pandy Park.

Cole said: “I picked him up and put him on the side of the [river] bank."

Ms Rees said: “Did [the youth] put him there?"

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “You put Logan in the river because you wanted people to believe he had left the house and fallen in the river.”

Cole said: “I didn’t put him in the river.”

Ms Rees said: “Is that where you dump your rubbish Mr Cole?”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “It didn’t take you long to dump. You had a plan and purpose and executed it. And [the youth] was with you.”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “Angharad Williamson was in the house switching the lights on and off. It must have been Angharad.

Cole said: “It must have been.”

Ms Rees said: “What did you and [the youth] talk about on the way back from the river?”

Cole said: “I wasn’t really talking.”

Ms Rees said: “You didn’t need to because you both knew what went on.”

Cole said: “No, I wasn’t really talking.”

Ms Rees said: “Logan couldn’t have got into that river on his own.”

Cole said: “I can’t explain it…. I didn’t put him in the river.”

Ms Rees said: “It must have been you or [the youth].”

Cole said: “No.”

It was put to the defendant it suited his purposes to put Logan in the river.

Cole said: “I know an autopsy would have shown no water in his lungs.”

Ms Rees said: “Were you thinking about that at the time?”

Cole said: “No.”

The defendant was also asked about the pyjama top.

Cole said: “[Williamson] handed me the top and said: 'We need to get rid of this.'"

Ms Rees said: “When was the last time you saw the dinosaur top?”

Cole said: “Earlier in the afternoon when Angharad picked him up….. It’s something handed to me and I went back out.”

Ms Rees said: “Had that top got damaged during the attack on Logan which caused his death?”

Cole said: “I don’t know.”

Ms Rees said: “You do know because you played a part in it.”

Cole denied this.

Ms Rees said: “One of you made a deliberate decision to put a Spiderman top on a dead child… Was it you?”

Cole said: “I don’t know, I don’t remember…. I’ve told you to the best of my abilities.”

Logan Mwangi murder trial continues – updates from court

 

[SausageDog]

Ms Rees said: “You knew how he died. This story of CPR is all made up. You didn’t call an ambulance because you were one of the people who killed him….. You and the others involved had applied extreme blunt force to this little boy and the account of waking up and doing CPR is all made up. The last thing you wanted was the authorities seeing Logan’s body and that’s why it was important to get rid of the body.”

Cole said: “It wasn’t like that.”

Ms Rees said: “Was [the youth] there?” Cole said: “He was there in the background.”


Mr Rouch said: “Did Angharad say: ‘Why is he with her? If he is with her, why?’.”

Cole said: “In the morning when we reported Logan missing we put on a load of theatrics for the neighbours and [the youth]. We reported him missing and we knew it was wrong.”

Has JC tripped himself up here ? So the youth knew at 2.15am that Logan was dead and “CPR was being performed”, but JC is also saying he pretended that Logan was missing at 6am in front of the youth, as the youth wouldn’t have been aware he was already dead?

 

[Sooty]

This man and his evasive answers is really driving me crazy!

‘I’ve told you to the best of my abilities.”

 

[nothinonyou]

"i wasn't really talking", you either were or weren't talking!!

 

[Skigh]

This man and his evasive answers is really driving me crazy!

‘I’ve told you to the best of my abilities.”

I can imagine the jury are also frustrated hearing his obviously evasive answers.

 

[Sooty]

You together with the others assaulted that little boy and the cover-up is each one of you was responsible for Logan Mwangi’s death'
Concluding her cross-examination of John Cole prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: “You were involved in the murder of Logan weren’t you and you’re lying to this court to protect yourself, [the youth], and to protect Angharad Williamson.”

Cole said: “Over the last eight months I’ve been trying to think it out…. At the time my head was all over the place and I wasn’t paying attention.”

Ms Rees said: “You punched him to the abdomen and used force resulting in his death and did nothing to save him.”

Cole said: “I did CPR on him.” Ms Rees said: “That’s not true.”

The prosecutor added: “What did you do before the arrest to let anyone know the truth?” Cole said: “I did nothing.”

Ms Rees said: “You could have called the police…. Did you discuss coming clean?” Cole said: “Yes.”

Ms Rees said: “You must have known either [the youth] or Angharad had killed Logan.”

Cole said; “I didn’t know what happened and I didn’t know the details of the injuries until I was arrested at the police station…. I don’t know what happened…… I regret the decisions I made which is why I told the police what I did….. I knew we were going to get arrested…… We said we should confess but it just went backwards and forwards.”

Ms Rees said: “What did Angharad say?”

Cole said: “From the moment this happened Angharad was in bits and distraught.”

Ms Rees said: “She was keeping up the act.”

Cole said: “It wasn’t all an act…. Her grief wasn’t pretence, she was distraught, we both were.”

Ms Rees added: “You told lies to police, nurses, and friends and acted with her to cover it up.”

Cole said: “Yes."

Ms Rees said: “And the youth did.”

Cole said: “We told him to come out looking for Logan and he thought Logan was missing.”

Ms Rees said: “He’d been involved in killing Logan too.”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “And he was part of your team covering up the real reason for Logan’s death.”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “Each one of you had threatened violence or used violence against him. The youth threatened to kill him….. You had used violence towards Logan, thrown him, hit him to the head, punished him cruelly.”

Cole said: “I’ve admitted to what I’ve done.”

Ms Rees said: “Angharad had shaken him, picked him up by his pyjamas and shouted in his face……. Logan was the odd one out……..”

Cole said: “No.”

Ms Rees said: “You together with the others assaulted that little boy and the cover-up is each one of you was responsible for Logan Mwangi’s death. Isn’t that right Mr Cole?”

Cole said: “No.”

Logan Mwangi murder trial continues – updates from court

 

[Sooty]

Cole concludes his evidence
Following some brief follow-up questions from the defendant’s barrister David Elias QC murder accused John Cole finishes his evidence and returns to the dock.

The court adjourns for 15-minute break on the request of Mr Elias and Williamson’s barrister Peter Rouch QC.
Logan Mwangi murder trial continues – updates from court