A 14-year-old “monster” sentenced to life in prison for murdering five-year-old Logan Mwangi has been named as Craig Mulligan.
It is common for children in criminal cases not to be identified, but a judge at Cardiff Crown Court decided to lift an anonymity order in this instance.
Reporters asked for it to be removed on grounds of public interest and open justice.
Earlier, Mulligan, along with Logan’s mother, Angharad Williamson, 31, and Mulligan’s stepfather, John Cole, 40, was sentenced to life in prison.
The teenager was 13 when he took part in fatal assaults on Logan and helped Cole to dispose of the youngster’s body in the River Ogmore, Bridgend.
Logan was murdered just five days after Mulligan began living in the same house as him, something described by prosecutors as “no coincidence”.
The little boy weighed only 3st 1lb before his death, the judge said, and was 3ft 5in tall.
In submissions to the court, a foster family Mulligan was placed with said he made their lives a “living hell” and they became “terrified” of him.
In the course of a few weeks he made repeated threats to kill them – as well as injuring their daughter, the foster mother and their dog, they said.
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Concerns became heightened when he asked two young girls if they wanted to play a “murder game” and told them they would have to get inside black bin bags.
While he apparently talked fondly of his stepfather, stepmother and youngest sibling, they said he spoke of wanting to “kill the five-year-old” (Logan).
Mulligan was a “monster” who had a “desire for violence”, they told the court.
After Logan had been murdered, Mulligan was put back into the care of the local authority.
A care worker heard him singing, repeatedly: “I love kids. I f***ing love kids. I love to punch kids in the head. It’s orgasmic.”
He told another: “I did some bad stuff but I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
Williamson and Cole had petitioned the family courts for custody of Mulligan. They won their case on 26 July 2021 and he went to live with them.
Logan’s body was discovered on 31 July 2021, only 250 metres from his home.
Mulligan is said to have “idolised” Cole, who had raised him from the age of nine months, and seen his stepfather as a “God-like” figure.
Cole had been in a relationship with Mulligan’s mother and later became her carer.
Mulligan was removed from his mother’s care after she violently assaulted him, following which he was looked after by Bridgend County Borough Council for six months.
By this time he was already a “complex, troubled and violent boy”, prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said.
Mulligan’s counsel said he had been diagnosed with multiple neurodevelopmental disorders.
A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Logan had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises as well as “catastrophic” internal injuries.
He was wearing mismatched pyjamas and was said to have undergone a “brutal and sustained assault”.
The child’s injuries were described as similar to victims of high-speed crashes or people who had fallen from a height.
Williamson was told she would spend at least 28 years behind bars, while Cole will serve a minimum of 29 years.
Mulligan will be detained for at least 15 years.
After lifting the anonymity order made under Section 45 of the Youth Justice Criminal Evidence Act, Mrs Justice Jefford said: “I have come to the conclusion, having considered the submissions this morning, that I should lift the reporting restriction in this matter.”
Passing sentence, the judge described the concealment of Logan’s body in the river as “heartless”, “calculated and orchestrated”.
She added: “You are responsible for Logan’s death and all the anguish that has followed from it.
“Because he was killed in his own home, it is not possible to be sure what has happened to him.
“Inflicting these injuries on a small, defenceless five-year-old is nothing short of horrific.”
