Logan Mwangi murder trial: ‘Mother, 30, washed son’s bloodied Paw Patrol bedding after his death’

A mother accused of murdering her five-year-old son was found washing his bloodied Paw Patrol bedclothes when police showed up to look for him, a court today heard.

Jury members were told how officers found Angharad Williamson, 30, ‘wailing and shouting’ when they visited the family’s flat in Bridgend, South Wales, on July 31 last year to investigate her son Logan Mwangi’s disappearance. 

The court heard Williamson had hours earlier made a ‘distraught’ 999 call to South Wales Police to report him missing.

However prosecutors allege it was ‘all an act’ and a ‘callous performance designed to cover up her involvement in her son’s death’. 

Jury members were told that when police arrived at the property a tumble dryer and washing machine could be heard.

Later that morning Logan, who had been in Covid isolation in the lead up to his death, was found dumped like ‘fly-tipped rubbish’ beside the nearby River Ogmore.

The youngster, who was last seen alive on Facetime on July 27, was still dressed in his mismatched pyjamas having suffered 56 injuries to his head, face, torso, arms and legs.

His blood was found on bed sheets recovered from the tumble dryer four days, the court was told.

Meanwhile, jury members were told how Williamson’s partner, John Cole, 40, who is alleged to have dumped Logan’s body with the help of a teenager boy, is said to have told a prison guard while in custody that he had a ‘moral dilemma’.  

The teenage boy, who can not be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have been observed singing, ‘I love kids, I f***ing love kids, I love to punch kids in the head, it’s orgasmic’ after his arrest.

He is later claimed to have said: ‘I might plead guilty next week’, as well as ‘I did some bad stuff but I’m not allowed to talk about it’.

Cole and the teenager are both jointly charged, alongside Williamson, with murdering Logan sometime between 28 July and 1 August last year. All three deny murder. 

Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC told jurors at Cardiff Crown court that Williamson made a distraught 999 call to South Wales Police at 5.45am on July 31.

Later that morning police attended her address in Sarn, which is located around 400 meters from the river where Logan’s body discovered later that morning.

Speaking about the body-cam footage of police at the home, Ms Rees said: ‘Angharad Williamson is dramatic, wailing and shouting, playing the part of a distraught mother to the full extent of her acting abilities.’

She told the court that in the police body-cam videos, the sound of a tumble dryer and washing machine can be heard in the background.

She told the jury: ‘Why on earth would the family be doing the laundry as a matter of such urgency in the circumstances?

‘The prosecution suggest that this was to dispose of incriminating evidence and that one of the items laundered was part of Logan’s bedlinen.’

The sheet, which was missing from Logan’s bed, was recovered from the tumble dryer four days later when the property was searched on August 4.

Logan’s Paw Patrol duvet and pillow were found to have small amounts of Logan’s blood on them consistent, the prosecution said, with him having been bleeding in bed.

The court also heard about the 999 call made to police by Williamson. 

Ms Rees said: ‘Within just three hours of Logan’s body being carried from the house with the full knowledge of Angharad Williamson, she was engaged actively and deliberately in a calculated plot to manipulate and mislead the police, friends and family into believing that her son Logan had gone missing in the night.

‘She telephoned the police via a 999 call to report Logan as missing.’

Ms Rees said: ‘It might sound like a heartfelt call of distress from a mother reporting her child missing. 

‘But with knowledge of the CCTV and the proof that she knew exactly what was going on that night, the prosecution say that the 999 call is in fact chilling.’

‘It demonstrates the extent to which Williamson was prepared to lie and her ability to put on a performance to save her own skin, even when dealing with the death of her own five-year-old child.’

Ms Rees told the court that during the call Williamson blamed another woman for potentially kidnapping Logan in the night ‘ in callous attempt to send the police off in the wrong direction.’

Jury members heard the young boy had been in self-isolation from July 21 after testing positive with Covid and the last time he was seen alive was on a Facetime call on July 27, four days before he was found dead. 

Ms Rees said: ‘Despite the fact that she was within close proximity of her five-year-old son’s dead body Angharad Williamson put herself first and rather than tell even a grain of truth about what happened in the night. 

‘She continued to pretend that Logan must have wandered off into the river.’

The jury was told Williamson told one nurse ‘that she wished she had taught him to swim’.

Ms Rees said: ‘This must have been with the intention of causing others to believe he had met his death by drowning, even though Angharad Williamson must have known this was untrue because she was up and about when his dead body was removed from the home.

‘Williamson’s priority was hiding her true involvement in Logan’s death rather than telling anyone the truth about what happened.

The court heard one nurse ‘was clearly troubled by Williamson’s demeanour whilst at the hospital and how Williamson appeared to be ‘performing’ giving attention to Logan but that it only happened when the nurse was watching.’

Williamson, Cole, 40, and the 14-year-old boy, are on trial accused of murdering the youngster between July 28 and August 1.

All three are also accused of perverting the course of justice, including moving Logan’s body to the river near Pandy Park, removing his clothing, washing bloodstained bed linen, and making a false missing person report to police.

Williamson and the youth have pleaded not guilty to both offences.

Cole has denied murder but admitted disposing of Logan’s body and incriminating evidence. 

He claims Williamson was aware of and actively took part in the cover-up of the crime.

Williamson and Cole are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they both deny.

The trial continues.