Logan Mwangi: ‘Opportunities missed’ to protect five-year-old, safeguarding review finds
Fiona Simpson
Monday, November 28, 2022
A series of missed opportunities by health and social care professionals to protect a five-year-old boy murdered by his mother, her partner and his stepson have been highlighted in a child practice review into his death.
Logan Mwangi was found unresponsive by a riverbank in Bridgend, south Wales, in the summer of 2021.
His mother, Angharad Williams, her partner John Cole and his 14-year-old stepson, who was 13 at the time Logan was killed, were convicted of his murder following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court earlier this year.
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Review of children’s social care system prioritises family help
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Inspections Clinic: Multi-agency safeguarding
The review, carried out by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board, states that Logan - referred to as Child T - presented at A&E with 31 injuries including bruising and a fracture to his arm in August 2020.
Despite concerns over the length of time it had taken the boy’s mother to seek medical advice over the injuries, “there is no evidence that information about these injuries was shared with agencies outside of the health board”.
“This information only became known to partner agencies during the process of the child practice review. Child T was seen by several health professionals at that time,” it adds.
Concerns are also raised over a “lack of curiosity” by local authority children’s services over the risk Cole posed to Logan, even after it emerged that he had a series of criminal convictions including for assaulting a child, the child practice review said.
It also notes that despite reports of Cole’s former involvement with the National Front, and him subjecting Logan, who was mixed race, to racial slurs in front of family members, “there is no information within multi-agency chronologies or assessments that were undertaken that confirms this information was known to agencies during their involvement with Child T,” the report states.
It also highlights the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on Logan’s safety into the lead up of his death, with Jan Pickles, independent chair of the panel, saying: “The Covid restrictions meant that behaviour that would normally have led to a response, such as children missing school, a delay in seeking medical assistance following injury were seen as a consequence of Covid.”
The review concludes that chances were missed for agencies, including health workers, social workers and safeguarding professionals, to share information that could have created a fuller picture of the risk to Logan and concluded that professionals worked in “silos” rather than cooperating effectively.
The review team also expressed concern at the pace at which an assessment, lasting just four weeks, was carried out, when Cole and Williamson applied to the family court to have Cole’s stepson, who had been taken into local authority care, live with them.
In a series of national recommendations issued following the review, the panel has called on the Welsh government to consider commissioning an all-Wales review of child protection conferences as well as a full review of health, social care, education and police recording, information gathering and sharing systems and a campaign to raise public awareness on how to report safeguarding concerns.
Meanwhile, a series of local recommendations advises that Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board should commission an Independent Review into its practice and management of identifying and investigating non-accidental injuries in children and adolescents and say the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board should review and relaunch its existing multi-agency training.
It also recommends that Bridgend County Borough Council ensures that all employees receive high quality supervision, guidance, and oversight of their practice and improves its approach to analysing and managing risk.
Responding to the review, Claire Marchant, director of social services and wellbeing for the council, said: “The murder of five-year-old Logan Mwangi remains a distressing and terrible tragedy - first and foremost for those who knew and loved him best, but also for his school friends and teachers, the people of Sarn, and the wider community of Bridgend county.
“The fact that we were unable to protect Logan will always remain a source of great sadness, and we are deeply sorry that our safeguarding and child protection endeavours did not prevent his death.
“The review has identified that there were opportunities to share information and better analyse and act on the risks to Logan.”