Tuesday 5 July 2022 10:00 AM Logan Mwangi's biological father says he could have saved tragic five-year-old ... trends now

The biological father of murdered five-year-old Logan Mwangi says he was would have been 'the first one there' had he been told his son by social workers that his child was at risk.

Ben Mwangi said he had 'no idea' that social services were involved with his son prior to his murder in July last year.

Logan's body was found 'fly-tipped like rubbish' in the River Ogmore, near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county.

His mother, Angharad Williamson, 31, her partner, John Cole, 40, and his step-son, 14-year-old Craig Mulligan were all given life sentences last week after being found guilty of his murder.

During the trial, it emerged that Logan had been on the child protection register due to concerns about Cole.

But had been removed from it a month before he died. Social workers also attempted an unscheduled visit to the house a day before Logan died, but were denied access due to the youngster supposedly having Covid.

Now Mr Mwangi, who was estranged from Williamson and who had been denied access to his son Logan since 2019, is campaigning for a law change.

He wants estranged parents to be given notice if social services flag safety concerns about their child.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘100 per cent I would have been the first one there (had I known). 

'They (social services) would have looked at his injuries and though that he wouldn’t have self-inflicted them, there are three people in the house so this is obviously a dangerous environment, we need to contact his father and let him know what happened.

‘But I had absolutely no idea what was happening to my son.’

Speaking about his campaign, named Logan's Law in honour of his son, he said: 'This is exactly what Logan’s Law is doing. 

'What it is going to be about is to let estranged parents like myself know if their child is known to social services.

‘If I would have had any inkling whatsoever that Logan was known I would have got him. 

'I would have gone with a police escort or worked with social services and I would have said: “Okay I’m getting my son’s things and I’m taking him away from this obviously hostile environment. If he is in danger then let’s make him safe.”

‘But for the fact that I didn’t know – which is one of the big questions that is going to be asked in the child protection review – is going to be why wasn’t I contacted.

‘You would have thought as his biological father if he was on the (social services) register then I should have known.'

It comes as calls are growing for inquiries into children's services to take place across the whole UK after social workers and family courts failed to prevent the murder of Logan. 

A social services investigation is now under way into the circumstances of Logan's death as Mulligan had only returned to the care of Cole just five days before the murder in July last year.

In England, a national review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six, and one-year-old Star Hobson has begun, and calls have been made for a similar inquiry in Wales.

Star's great grandfather David Fawcett, 62, today said an overhaul was needed to social services across the entire UK. 

'The whole system needs overhauling before more children die,' he told MailOnline. 'There is inquiry after inquiry and the failures are recognised, but still repeated again and again all over the country.

'When you see how much some of these people are being paid and they are not protecting the children, it is shocking.

'They say changes will be made in a year, but what is happening now? The police need to work closer with social services. There needs to be more communication and checks.'

A serious case review into Logan's death has now been launched by the local council, but Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has been slammed for rejecting demands for Wales to follow England and Scotland and set up an inquiry to examine the crisis in social care on a national level.  

Welsh Conservative Gareth Davies said he was 'surprised' First Minister Mark Drakeford had rejected the plea as Logan's death had 'exposed some serious shortcomings'.

Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan said Wales was now the 'outlier' as it was the only nation in the UK not undertaking a review.

And Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said lessons must be learned 'so that it never happens again'.

The Welsh Government said it would 'closely consider' the results of a children's services inspection and a review of events before Logan's death.

The last major social services failure in Wales was just six years ago - when adoptive father Matthew Scully-Hicks killed his 18 month old daughter Elsie under the eye of social workers.

A child safeguarding review at the time found Scully-Hicks, and his husband Craig, were seen as 'positive parents' and the catalogue of abuse suffered at the hands of the personal trainer were written off by medics and social workers as accidents. 

Scandalously, Logan had been stepped down on the child protection register just weeks before his death by social workers from Bridgend Council in South Wales. 

The same children's services department also supported moving Mulligan out of foster care and into the family home - despite having made threats to kill Logan.

That fact was only reportable after a judge ruled it was of 'significant public interest' to name Mulligan so the family dynamics could be explained.

But at every step in proceedings Bridgend Council has tried to hide their missed opportunities to save Logan, with social workers requesting to be anonymised during court proceedings. 

Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC told the court: 'Several social workers have raised requests for anonymity orders. It seems they have been wrongly informed they are entitled to them.'

The council kept a close eye on proceedings throughout the nine-week trial, often having two press officers and two solicitors in court, as well as other officials from Children's Services.

Later, after the guilty verdicts were returned, lawyers for the council briefed Mulligan's defence team that they wished to keep the teenage killer anonymous because naming him 'could affect his rehabilitation'.  

The tragedy follows the recent deaths of two other youngsters who suffered similarly horrific neglect.

MPs at Westminster have this week been probing the lockdown murders of 16-month-old Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six, with council bosses admitting no social workers had been sacked over the tragedies.

Both were killed by their parents' partners during the pandemic after social workers missed signs they were being abused.    

Mulligan's move into Logan's home – likened during the murder trial to 'putting a lit match in a powder keg' – was approved by the secretive family courts after Cole applied for guardianship of Mulligan. 

Despite not being a blood relative, Mulligan idolised Cole and referred to him as 'dad'. 

In chilling contrast, he would not refer to Logan as his brother, calling him only 'the

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