Mum who murdered son, 5, before his body was dumped in river wants conviction reviewed

A mother who murdered her five-year-old son wants her case reviewed by the body which investigates potential miscarriages of justice.

Angharad Williamson was jailed for life in June 2022 for the murder of her son Logan Mwangi, alongside his stepfather John Cole and a teenager, Craig Mulligan, then 14.

Williamson must serve a minimum of 28 years.

On Wednesday, she appeared via video link at a pre-inquest hearing at Pontypridd Coroner's Court which set a date for Logan's inquest, and where the information about a possible appeal was revealed.

Logan's inquest has been set for November 2027 - more than six years after his murder.

The attack on the "defenceless" schoolboy, who weighed 3st 1lb (20kg), was "nothing short of horrifying".

Logan's body was found in the River Ogmore, near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county in July 2021.

Police officers found Logan partially submerged in the river in Pandy Park, just 250m from his home. He was wearing his dinosaur pyjama bottoms and a Spider-Man top.

His body was dumped like "fly-tipped rubbish".

During the trial, jurors had heard how Logan was treated like a prisoner in the days before his death.

Rejecting Williamson's version of events that Cole and Mulligan attacked Logan two days before his body was found and that she had run out of the house in an attempt to get help, Mrs Justice Jefford said: "That was made up after the event to protect yourself and shift the blame.

"You had an opportunity to protect your son from further injury and you did nothing.

"Whatever time the ferocious assault on Logan happened, he was for the most part of Friday injured or dying."

Talking about the cover-up, Jefford said what they did was "careful and calculated and not the product of panic".

"It is impossible to imagine the terror a five-year-old would feel suffering those horrific injuries inflicted upon him by those regarded as his family with the compliance of his mother."

The concealment of Logan's body in the river, was described as "heartless", "calculated and orchestrated".

Jefford told the trio they were "all responsible for Logan's death and all the anguish that has flowed from it".

"Because he was killed in his own home, it is not possible to be sure what has happened to him," she said.

She described the injuries Logan suffered as "the sort of injuries seen in abused children".

Logan, a previously "smiling, cheerful little boy", died after suffering a "brutal and sustained" attack at home, leaving him with 56 "catastrophic" injuries, including extensive bruising to the back of his head and tears in his liver and bowel.

Cole was told he would serve a minimum term of 29 years in prison while Mulligan, would serve at least 15 years. All three were convicted of murdering Logan in July 2021.

Mulligan - who was able to be publicly named after a judge lifted an anonymity order - is not the biological son of Cole but he raised him from the age of nine months and considered himself a father figure.

On Wednesday, Williamson was seen briefly on screen with dark hair and glasses as she listened to the hearing from HMP Downview Prison in Surrey, alongside a mental health support worker.

She did not speak at the hearing and Coroner David Regan said he understood she "wanted to observe".

Tony Thompson, a former superintendent with the British Transport Police, told the court: "I am conducting a review of her conviction."

He asked to be a lay representative for Williamson, who he said had contacted him at the end of last year.

He said the "aim is to determine whether there are grounds to go to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)" before hoping to get the case to the Court of Appeal.

He added that that was "some way down the track".

Thompson argued that the inquest and his investigation were "closely related" and that he should be able to be seen as an "interested person" at the inquest, meaning someone who is able to take a more active role in proceedings.

The court heard the inquest - to be held for four weeks from 15 November 2027 - would have a scope starting from August 2020.

Legal representatives for South Wales Police, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Bridgend County Borough Council also joined the hearing.

In November 2022, a safeguarding review found hospital doctors failed to share with child protection services a list of "significant" injuries Logan suffered 11 months before he was murdered.

A review into social services at Bridgend County Borough Council revealed concerns over children's service with follow up inspections suggesting improvements were still needed.

Speaking after the hearing, Thompson told BBC Wales he was contacted by Williamson, after publicity surrounding his success in securing a review by the CCRC of the case of Clive Freeman, a man who maintains his innocence 38 years after being convicted of murder.

He said: "Angharad is very pleased that someone is taking an interest in her. She's got no money for lawyers. She's got no legal aid. And that's why I said, look, I'll have a look at it.

"Angharad pleaded not guilty at the trial and the trial judge made comments in her sentencing remarks that she found there was no evidence that she had assaulted Logan but she must have known what was going on and was part of the planning to dispose of poor Logan's body.

"I am looking at all the circumstances leading up to that but it's to early to determine whether there is sufficient ground for me to continue.

"People who feel they are wrongly convicted are entitled to have somebody willing to look their case for them but I do understand the sensitivities around the case and I knew that when I took it on."