Mum vows to fight on to find ‘justice’ for her son
THE mother of a teenage schoolboy who drowned in the River Cynon after allegedly being pushed in has accused the CPS of “institutional racism”.
Christopher Kapessa, 13, was found dead in the river, near Fernhill, on July 1 last year not far from Mountain Ash Comprehensive School where he was a pupil.
It was initially concluded by South Wales Police there were no suspicious circumstances regarding Christopher’s death. After complaints were made by Christopher’s mother Alina Joseph and his family the case was taken on by the force’s major crime investigation team but no-one has ever been charged in relation to his death.
Ms Joseph told a press conference earlier this year that she was told in a letter by the CPS there was evidence Christopher was pushed into a river by a 14-year-old boy and there was sufficient evidence for him to be prosecuted for manslaughter.
But Ms Joseph was told there was no public interest in prosecuting the boy who was described as being “mature and intelligent for his age” and having a “good school record”.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Joseph, 39, described the devastating loss of her football-loving son and the anger she feels towards those who have investigated his death.
She said she is convinced the investigation into her son’s death would have been treated differently by the authorities if he had not been black.
“If Christopher had been a white boy and the suspect black I definitely think it would have been a different outcome,” she said.
“They were prepared to make me live with the fact that my son died because of his own clumsiness. It makes me sick every time I think about it.”
Ms Joseph also described how she was told by a police officer to accept Christopher’s death as a “tragic accident” and how she was made to feel like she was in the wrong after questioning the competence of the investigation, with officers only interviewing four of a potential 14 witnesses.
Having moved to South Wales in 2011 from London where Christopher was born Ms Joseph said she and her children, aged between seven and 21, were known as “the only blacks in the village”.
She said Christopher had once been beaten up and “left in a pool of blood” and that her family were used to bullying and racial harassment.
Describing the day of her son’s death, Ms Joseph said she last saw Christopher alive when he left the house to play football with friends.
He ended up on a bank of the River Cynon with friends but would not have entered the water of his own accord having been a non-swimmer, she said.
At 5pm that day she was told by one of Christopher’s sports coaches that her son had “jumped off a bridge” into the water and she was told the next day by a police officer that her son’s death was an accident.
She said: “I started to feel numb, I didn’t even know we had a river nearby.”
The initial investigation concluded that Christopher had slipped into the water but Ms Joseph questioned the veracity of this decision after witnesses were not interviewed and the scene had not been cordoned off.
She says the police even tried to convince her they had found Christopher’s glasses when she knew they did not belong to him.
“When I questioned them it felt as if I was being interrogated as to whether I knew my son or not. They wanted us to go along with whatever they were saying.”
A complaint was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct by the Monitoring Group on behalf of Ms
Joseph and a second investigation established that at least 10 child witnesses had not been spoken to.
In a letter sent to Ms Joseph by a senior prosecutor at the CPS in February she was told no charges would be pursued.
The letter said: “There was clear evidence that the suspect pushed Christopher in the back with both hands, causing him to fall in the river.
“That push was an unlawful act... The evidence in this case, however, indicates that the push was not in an effort to harm someone but was ill-considered by a young boy who had not considered the full potential of the consequences.”
Describing her feeling after reading the letter Ms Joseph said: “It felt like I was being told that Christopher had died again.”
Ms Joseph and her family have asked the CPS to review its decision with an announcement expected soon. If the original decision is kept they will seek a judicial review at the High Court with the barrister who worked on the Stephen Lawrence case, Michael Mansfield QC, representing them.
In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has come to the fore in recent weeks, Ms Joseph said: “I’ve always been fighting but now it feels like you have the world behind you. Christopher was innocent. My son deserves to have justice.”
The CPS was unable to comment due to the current review but earlier said: “Decisions on cases such as this are difficult but each must be judged on its own merit.”
A spokesman from South Wales Police said: “We know how difficult the past months have been for Christopher’s family and, as ever, we send our condolences.
“We are aware of the family’s concerns but we cannot comment specifically in relation to previous complaints as these have been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
“A full file of evidence was submitted by the South Wales Police major crime investigations team after what was a very complex and challenging investigation. Our detectives worked hard to establish the facts and the events leading up to Christopher’s death.”