Logan Mwangi TW: Child Abuse

[Merryoldgoat]

I’m just so sad. Why do these dreadful people do this?

I want to breathe the life back into him and take him away from all that pain.

I’m a fairly rubbish parent a lot if the time. But I just can’t conceive of the evil that does this to a poor little child.

@Merryoldgoat not all stepparents are evil !!

Let’s not turn this into a SS bashing thread.

Have you ever had that disturbing feeling when someone screams in your face, bangs into you on the street, shouts out from their car in a road rage incident? Imagine potentially facing that level of aggression in every house you visit all day long? These people are not always the nicest to deal with. Imagine being criticised for doing too much or too little all the time?

No doubt about it - it’s a hard job. It’s only when they get real back-up and resources that it will become a profession that people can actually stay in for long.

@millytint44 seriously ??

I've said before that social workers need to be and have the powers to be tougher. The type to kick down the door metaphorically speaking if they sense something isn't right. Far too many wishy washy young ones about. The one who was assigned to my mum with dementia sounded about 12 and had no oomph whatsoever. How many times was little Star's mum able to pull the wool over the social workers eyes when she wanted to make an appointment to visit?? . I get it's a really hard job, I certainly couldn't do it.

@millytint44

So much vitriol, snobbery and downright misogyny on this thread. "Chav mums", "thing who gave birth", "evil" about a child.

Not to mention haranguing of Social Services who do their utmost in a chronically underfunded, unsupportive, broken system.

Who is calling a child 'evil' or 'chav mum' that makes no sense. The mother is evil, duh.

Honestly they are probably victims of sexual abuse from a young age. Of course it's not an excuse but it's probably true. It's more common than we know, as evidenced here. Vicious cycle and again the problem lies with men.

Totally agree with you on this. The last few appalling cases of child abuse that have been in the media: ALWAYS a stepfather/ mum’s new partner. Always.

It’s also a biological parent involved.

I followed some of the local reporting during the trial and the evidence was terrible to read. Such callousness from the defendants, and the two adults turning on each other in court thinking only of protecting themselves. Poor Logan, he was so isolated.
Williamson was reported as being very quick to complain and accuse, e.g. towards Logan's school, it was then explained away by her as her being "an overprotective mother" so the complete opposite of what was actually happening to the poor child. The 14 year old...in fact he was 13 at the time of the murder...I have children of a similar age and am struggling with the concept that a child of that age would be an active participant in the killing of another child, let alone then assisting in hiding the body. There must be far more information to come out about the youth but I'm not sure if much of it will be allowed into the public domain unless his name is allowed to be reported at some point. I guess his sentence will reflect his young age but I would be really worried about how much he could be rehabilitated, if at all - the extent to which he will still pose a danger to the general public is yet to be established I suppose. And Cole should not have been allowed anywhere near a child, his background info was really worrying.

I'd been following the trial online, and I got the impression that a lot of information was being held back from the public and not being reported during the trial. Obviously that was in part because of the youth's age. But as it turns out one thing that wasn't mentioned during the trial was just how much of a massive racist John Cole is. So much so he was even a member of the national front at one point and referred to Logan by the derogatory term 'coco pop' it's clear now that John Coles treatment of Logan was in part down to Logan's mixed heritage.

John Cole also attacked an ex partner while she was holding their baby. What a piece of scum he is.

The thing is she wasn't a 'chav mum' she came from an affluent background and went to a private school. Which just goes to show anyone can end up neglecting and abusing their children, regardless of their background.

I do agree that she put her partner needs above the welfare of her child, and I can't for the life of me understand why. It doesn't sound like he brought anything positive to their relationship. It seems as though she was supporting him and paying for everything.

What about Star Hobson it was her mother's girlfriend that murdered her
Or Arthur Labinjo Hughes?
His father's girlfriend
Victoria climbie ,was murdered by her aunt .

@Merryoldgoat i would have said it was a ‘mute point’ to me too, until my husband suddenly died…..

My son having a step parent was the best thing ever for him, but of course I deleted my partner wisely. But I don’t think it’s fair to assume that a 25 year old widow should have been single forever…

We hear about these hideous cases in the news, but I can guarantee there are many more great step parents

Deleted… I meant ‘selected’ lol

Why don't you come along and fix it lollipop?

Do you have ANY idea of the working conditions and caseloads for SW?
Things WILL CONTINUE to be missed, tragically, until there is serious reform in the area. SS are on their knees and there are simply not enough 'bodies' to allocate the appropriate time and resources to each and every case that comes in. I think people would be shocked to learn just how many cases are referred.

My local child services team is, and has been, working on 40% staffing levels for years... Because it is the most overworked, overstressed and underpaid role. People rarely last in the jobs long term because it is simply unsustainable and often leads to detrimental impact on health and wellbeing.

SWs are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

@nellytheelephant1980

@Merryoldgoat i would have said it was a ‘mute point’ to me too, until my husband suddenly died…..

My son having a step parent was the best thing ever for him, but of course I deleted my partner wisely. But I don’t think it’s fair to assume that a 25 year old widow should have been single forever…

We hear about these hideous cases in the news, but I can guarantee there are many more great step parents

True, @nellytheelephant1980

It's fair to acknowledge the role of the new lover in these types of cases, but it's not fair to condemn all women who find a new partner.

There are some amazing step-parents in the world who are actually better than the biological parent in some circumstances so it’s completely unfair to say a single/widowed parent shouldn’t find love again just incase they end up shacking up with a child abuser. Sometimes biological parents are abusers too, it isn’t always step-parents. In this case, his Mother also abused him so it definitely wasn’t just her partner acting alone. She was equally to blame and equally as warped as he was. There was another case a few months ago where a toddler’s Mother had left her to starve to death, no step-parent involved there. I’d argue the responsibility lies with the parent, if they realise their partner is abusive in any way they obviously need to leave to protect their children.

I honestly have no idea how anyone can abuse a child, it just makes me feel sick. Hate reading these stories.

Yes, the biological mother is equally to blame, but would she have killed Logan if she'd been single? Probably not. She'd still have been a rubbish mum, but the statistics suggest that he'd still be alive. The number of children being killed by their single mothers is not as high as those being killed by their stepdads. Once a step-parent enters the picture, the biological parent often switches their allegiance from their child to their partner. The child becomes an outsider and a scapegoat in their own home

Absolute scum of the highest order. I hope the adults get the shit kicked out of them everyday they are in prison. And the 14 year old sounds insane as well, how was he related to this family, doesn’t sound like he was a sibling?

Poor Logan, I have a 5 year old ds and the thought of what he had to go through makes my heart hurt. I wish there was a way the public could do more in these cases.

Social workers do the toughest job and get very little thanks for it. The problem is nearly every family they deal with has massive problems and often abuse, and they can't possibly take every child into care. The parents and carers involved often lie, cover up & say the right things - and delude themselves. I often read about people on here who reckon their kids have been removed from their care for no reason whatsoever, and don't buy it. Yes there are crap social workers, as there are crap people in every profession. But there are many, many dedicated social workers who are overworked and underpaid and devote their lives to making sure that kids who have been dealt the worst possible hand in life have someone looking out for them. Blame the murderers first, and the people who chronically underfund social services second. Don't blame the people who are trying really really hard to prevent tragedies like this.

He might be both. And your discomfort is of no interest.

I'm a single parent and I agree with Nelly. I wouldn't compromise my DS's safety for a relationship, no matter how tiny the risk. A "2 parent family" isn't the be all and end all.

Yes, the biological mother is equally to blame, but would she have killed Logan if she'd been single? Probably not.

Had she been a normal loving parent (who made a mistake and met an abusive man), she wouldn't have participated not allowed others to abuse and torture her son. She would have left, ended the relationship etc.

She may not have killed him had the others not been involved, but the biological parent could have intervened. They facilitate the abuse. A normal parent in a new relationship would not have let it get that far even if they chose a bad partner initially - if that makes sense.

Point being this isn't normal. These biological parents were shit parents to begin with, who often resent their child. It escalates with the new partner, but they're often mean or neglectful to start with.

As someone else has asked, is anything known about the 14 year old, ie was he related to the stepfather or maybe just a foster child? Not asking for personal details but, with such a previous history of anti social behaviour, I wonder how he ended up living as part of the family.

This is what the 14 year old said when he was arrested📧

“I love kids, I f love kids, I love punching kids in the head, it’s orgasmic.”

EVIL.