A TEENAGER has denied pushing a boy into a river in Wales before he downed, an inquest has heard.

Christopher Kapessa, who was 13, was pulled from the River Cynon in the South Welsh town of Rhondda Cynon Taf in July 2019, by emergency services.

The 13-year-old school boy was sadly pronounced dead at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Witnesses told South Wales Central Coroners’ Court in Pontypridd that another boy, who was then aged 14, had pushed Christopher into the water.

The boy, is now 19 years old and cannot be named for legal reasons.

At the hearing, counsel for the inquest, Tom Leeper, asked the teenager: “How did Christopher end up in the water?”

The boy replied: “I fell into him.”

Leeper further asked: “Did you walk behind him and intentionally push Christopher in the back with the palm of your hands?”

The boy said: “No.”

Christopher’s family are being represented by barrister Michael Mansfield. He questioned the boy further and asked if he pushed Christopher.

The boy said: “There was contact, but I did not push him in.”            

Mansfield asked: “Are you aware that none of the people who were present that day, your school mates, not a single one of them saw what you say happened?”

The boy replied: “Yes.”

Mansfield asked: “That must have made you wonder about the truth, hasn’t it?”

The boy said: “No, no.”

The KC went on: “Would you be kind enough, now four years later, to reconsider what the truth in this case is – that you pushed him in because you wanted to get him in the water?”

The boy replied: “No. There was contact but I didn’t push Christopher.”

Appeal

In 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to charge the boy in connection with Christopher’s death.

In 2022, Christopher’s mother, Alina Joseph, launched an appeal to prosecute the teenager who was seen pushing her son into the river, but her appeal was thrown out by the High Court.

At the inquest into her son’s death, Joseph said her family had received extensive “negative and horrific treatment” since moving to Wales from London in 2011.

 She also revealed that the family had received “racial hate letters” in the post and had racist language written outside their family home.

The inquest continues.