A 13-YEAR-old boy died after he was deliberately pushed into a river, a coroner has concluded.

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

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

At a ruling today, Assistant Coroner David Regan, said the incident was a “misplaced sense of fun, as a prank, and not with any malicious intent.”

Following a two-week hearing at South Wales Coroner’s Court, the assistant coroner described the incident as a “dangerous prank.”

He said: “The push was a dangerous prank, however the child responsible for it did not intend to cause Christopher’s death and himself jumped into the water with other children in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue.”

Witnesses told the court in Pontypridd that another boy, who was then aged 14, had pushed Christopher into the water.

The boy, who was named today as Jayden Pugh, now 19, had denied deliberately pushing Christopher.

However, assistant coroner said this was “simply untrue”.

Christopher’s mother, Alina Joseph, told the inquest that her family had been subjected to vile racist abuse before his death.

At the ruling, Mr Regan said there was “no evidence that Christopher’s death was caused by any racially motivated action.”

No Charges

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

The family lived in the village of Hirwaun between 2012 and 2018.

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.

Christopher was described as “loving, caring, passionate and very protective” by his heartbroken family.