Boy, 13, drowned after he was pushed into river in reckless prank

Teenager ‘deliberately’ shoved Christopher Kapessa into water in ‘misplaced sense of fun’

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy, who drowned in a river, was deliberately pushed in as a “dangerous prank”, a coroner has ruled.

Christopher Kapessa, died after getting into difficulty in the fast flowing River Cynon in Fernhill in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, on July 1 2019.

A 19-year-old boy, who can now be named as Jayden Pugh, claimed he had accidentally bumped into Christopher causing him to fall into the river.

But four witnesses told an inquest in Pontypridd that Pugh, who was just 14 at the time, had deliberately pushed Christopher from a ledge, where he was standing, contemplating whether or not to jump in.

Delivering a conclusion, David Regan, the assistant coroner, said: “In my judgment, Christopher was deliberately pushed into the back from behind by Jayden Pugh using his hands.

“Jayden’s actions deprived Christopher of the opportunity to decide whether or not to enter the water. I have no hesitation in finding that Christopher did not consent to being pushed into the river.”

He added: “Jayden pushed Christopher into the water in a misplaced sense of fun, namely as a prank.”

The coroner did not conclude that race had played a part in the tragic events.

The inquest heard how Christopher had been among a number of children from the Mountain Ash Comprehensive School who had gone to the river on the hot afternoon of July 1 2019.

Despite not being a confident swimmer, Christopher had taken a bathing costume with him intending to enter the water.

But after climbing up onto a ledge around two and a half metres above the fast flowing river, Christopher had become hesitant and could not make up his mind whether to jump in.

In his narrative conclusion, Mr Regan said: “At about 5.25pm, while he was standing by the waterside, he was deliberately pushed into the water by another child, falling two and a half metres into the water.

“The water was cold and he was unable to touch the bottom and keep his head above the surface.

“Christopher was swiftly in difficulty and thrashing with his arms. Children, including the boy who had pushed him, jumped into the water to try and save him but were unable to do so.”

Emergency services attended and Christopher was recovered from the water two hours later at 7.25pm. He was later declared dead at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

A file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether to charge Pugh with manslaughter. In July 2020 it was decided it would not be in the public interest to prosecute Pugh over what had been a “foolish prank”.