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Christopher Kapessa

Age: 13

Sex: male

Date: 1 Jan 2019

Place: River Cynon, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Christopher Kapessa died after he was pushed into a river.

A 14-year-old boy was known to have pushed him into the water, but the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute on the grounds that it was not in the public interest.

Christopher Kapessa had gone to the Red Bridge over the Cynon River after school on Monday, 1 July 2019 with some other children to go swimming. Christopher Kapessa and some of the other children had been there before. However, it was noted that whilst Christopher Kapessa had gone there, he had not gone into the water, although some others had.

There had been about 16 young people there at the time, some of whom had been jumping into the river from the bridge whilst others had been jumping in from the rocks.

Later on Christopher Kapessa went onto the rocks where he got into his swimming trunks and took off his top as well as his glasses and footwear.

It was noted that some of the children said that Christopher Kapessa had told them that he really wanted to jump in whilst others said that Christopher Kapessa had told them that he could not swim and that they told him not to go in. However, he was also heard to tell others that he could swim.

At the time there were three other children on the rocks, including the 14-year-old that pushed Christopher Kapessa in.

It was heard that the 14-year-old then pushed Christopher Kapessa into the water and that as Christopher Kapessa fell in that he took another youth in with him.

However, it was heard that almost as soon as he went in that it became clear that Christopher Kapessa was in difficulty and that the 14-year-old and another youth went into the water to save him but were unable to do so and he drowned.

Following Christopher Kapessa's death the police interviewed all 16 children that had been there at the time and later presented a case for manslaughter to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration, but the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute on the grounds that it was not in the public interest.

It was heard that Christopher Kapessa had expressed his concerns about going into the water and that he had been unwilling to enter the water freely. Counsel for Christopher Kapessa said, 'The suspect pushed him deliberately into the water. Christopher drowned and was killed as a result', and added that Christopher Kapessa and his family were new to the area and were a black family living in a predominantly white community.

It was said that in the case of young people that consideration of the impact that any prosecution against them had to be made and that in the case against the 14-year-old that although there was enough evidence to make a prosecution for manslaughter, that it was not in the public interest due to the negative impact that it would have had on his life in the future.

The Crown Prosecution Service said that there were two thresholds to consider when undertaking a prosecution:

  • First stage: is there sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the suspect?
  • Second stage: if the first stage is met then a prosecutor must consider whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.

The Crown Prosecution Service said that the criminal justice system treated children and young people differently from adults and that significant weight was attached to their age, with the best interests and welfare of the child or young person being considered, that including whether a prosecution was likely to have an adverse impact on their future prospects that was disproportionate to the seriousness of the offending.

The Crown Prosecution Service noted that the principal aim of the youth justice system was to prevent offending by children and young people and stated that as well as the suspect age, they had to take into account their maturity, adding that as a starting point, the younger the suspect, the less likely it is that a prosecution was required.

However, Christopher Kapessa's mother made a legal challenge against the Crown Prosecution Service for not undertaking the prosecution, but her case was dismissed by High Court judges. Her QC told the judges that the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to prosecute was 'unreasonable or irrational'. The QC added, 'The defendant’s decision fails to properly value human life, specifically the child victim’s life. The defendant fails to give proper regard to the seriousness of harm from the offence. Undue and improper weight has been given to the impact of a prosecution upon the future of the offender'.

The QC added that Homicide Guidance stated that the public interest in prosecuting homicide cases was high as the harm caused was inevitably of the utmost seriousness and stated that there had been a failure on the part of the Crown Prosecution Service to have regard to and apply the Homicide Guidance.

However, the High Court judges said that the QC was misconstruing policy guidance, stating that Homicide Guidance was addressed to homicides generally and observed that the Crown Prosecution Service had to also have regard to the Youth Offender Guidance which they noted had important factors that weighed against a prosecution of young persons.

The High Court judges then concluded that the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to prosecute was correct.

An inquest into his death concluded on 22 January 2024, ruling that Christopher Kapessa died after being deliberately pushed into the river. the Coroner said:

The push was a dangerous prank. However, the child responsible did not intend to cause Christopher's death and himself jumped into the water, with other children, as an unsuccessful attempt at rescue.

However, Christopher Kapessa's mother said that she didn't accept the coroner's conclusion that Christopher was pushed in as a prank, stating that she didn't agree with that word, that it was a prank. She said:

I feel the person involved knew exactly what he wanted to do, and there was evidence of that, his intention was to put Christopher in the water, so there was no prank about it.

Four witnesses told the inquest that the boy that had pushed Christopher Kapessa in had said, 'shall I push him in'.

The Coroner said that Christopher Kapessa fell 2.5m (8ft) from the ledge into the river, into water which was 2.5m deep, and that he was likely to have suffered from cold water shock, which would have led to the involuntary ingestion of water.

It was also heard that although other children jumped in after him, Christopher Kapessa disappeared below the surface at about 5.30pm.

His body was recovered at 7.25pm and he was later declared dead at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.


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