The stepfather accused of murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi did not call an ambulance when he found the boy dead because he was “panicking”, a court heard.

John Cole, 40, denied lying about carrying out CPR on the youngster and said he tried to save him.

Logan was found dead in the River Ogmore in Pandy Park, Bridgend, last year and the trial has heard how he suffered more than 56 external injuries, as well as internal wounds commonly found in victims of high-speed car accidents.

Cole, Logan’s mother Angharad Williamson, 30, and a 14-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons are alleged to have violently assaulted Logan on a number of occasions in the days prior to him being found dead.

‘I woke up to Logan being dead – I wasn’t thinking properly’

Logan’s body was found on the morning of 31 July 2021.

Giving evidence, Cole was asked about the early hours of that day, when he says Williamson woke up screaming and telling him she’d heard Logan take his last breath.

Logan Mwangi murder trial: Stepfather denies punching five-year-old boy and claims his mother shook him

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Logan Mwangi: Mum lied about stepdad beating five-year-old son days before he was found dead, jurors hear

Cole said he went into Logan’s bedroom, found him dead and began CPR, saying his “head was cocked back, his eyes were open, and his knees were up to his chest”.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC asked whether he had told Williamson to ring an ambulance. He replied: “No.”

When asked why he didn’t call for medical help, he said: “I wasn’t thinking, I was just trying to save him.”

Ms Rees asked why, when presented with a dead five-year-old, he didn’t call the police.

Cole said: “I just panicked. I woke up to Logan being dead, and it threw me. I wasn’t thinking properly.”

He said he was worried that the rest of his family would be taken away from him.

When asked whether he wanted to know why Logan died, Cole said he “wasn’t thinking clearly”.

Ms Rees said that the reason Cole didn’t call an ambulance was because he was one of the people who killed Logan.

Cole replied: “No. It wasn’t like that.”

‘He was a beautiful boy’

Williamson began her evidence on Tuesday and described her son as “such a beautiful, happy boy”.

She said things changed after she met Cole in April 2019 and claimed he had told her he was ex-special forces and had the ability to find anyone at any time.

During an incident in August 2020, when Logan fell or was pushed down the stairs in Cole’s property, Williamson said Cole used a move on Logan that he said he had learned while in the army to reposition a dislocated shoulder.

When examined, Logan was found to have broken his arm, and the hospital made a referral to social services.

Cole has admitted perverting the course of justice by dumping the boy’s body in the river, but denies murder.

Williamson and the youth deny all charges against them.

The trial continues.

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