Authorities in the United Kingdom claim that no racism occurred in the death of a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly pushed into a river.
Christopher Kapessa died on July 1, 2019, in Fernhill, South Wales.
According to the BBC, Christopher drowned after he was pushed into the River Cynon in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, by a 14-year-old boy. Sky News reports that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted there was enough evidence to charge the boy with manslaughter but concluded there was no public interest to prosecute him and called the incident a “foolish prank.”
Christopher was the only Black child in a group of kids playing by the river, but CPS claimed they found no evidence of racism or bullying.
The police initially told Christopher’s family that he’d slipped and fallen into the river, and there were “no suspicious circumstances” attributed to his accidental death. However, it was later determined that he was pushed, and CPS sent Christopher’s mother, Alina Joseph, a letter noting that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the boy for manslaughter, but they had declined to do so based on public opinion. She later accused the CPS and the South Wales Police of failing to properly investigate her son’s death during an interview with ITV News back in 2020.
“A prosecution is not in the public interest,” read the letter. “The subject was 14 years of age at the time of the alleged offence. … The subject is described as mature and intelligent for his age … and has a good school record without any issues of bad behaviour recorded.”
Joseph accused CPS of racism for failing to prosecute the boy responsible for her son’s death as well as for negligence during the investigation. “You left the scene just like that,” she said. “No investigation, no nothing. You’ve, you were so quick to deem it to be a tragic accident, there was just numerous negligence from the police’s part.”
“I did not expect them to come and tell me they found sufficient evidence, however, they’re gonna try and protect this individual because his life or his future is of more value as opposed to Christopher,” she continued.
“Why are they making all these excuses?” added Joseph. “A name has to be given to it, and for me, I’ve given it the name ‘racist.'”
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Powell led the police investigation and claimed that comparisons to the murder of Stephen Lawrence on social media led to racism claims in Chrisopher’s case.
Lawrence was a teenager who was murdered in a racially motivated attack in London in 1993, and Powell claimed that Christopher drowned “as a result of child’s play,” and there was “no evidence at all” that racism was a contributing factor. “Neither I nor my team uncovered any evidence of race having played a role,” said Powell.
Joseph’s attorney, Hilary Brown, told ITV News, “Had it been 14 or so young Black people and one white person who fell to their death as a result of a push, I think there’s enough objective evidence to say the outcome would have been entirely different. There would have been charges brought.”
According to the Guardian, a judicial review of the case in 2022 upheld the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision not to prosecute. The authorities’ handling of the case is currently under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
