Mum accuses police over teenage son’s river death
THE mother of schoolboy Christopher Kapessa has accused the police of failing to properly investigate her son’s death amid allegations there were 14 people in or around the river at the time of his death.
Christopher Kapessa, 13, was found dead in the river Cynon, near Fernhill, after a search involving South Wales Police, the fire brigade, paramedics and a helicopter on July 1.
An investigation was launched into the death of the Year 8 Mountain Ash Comprehensive School pupil but police allegedly stopped their probe within 24 hours after deciding the death had been an accident.
Family representatives expressed concern that only four young people were spoken to out of 14 people they said were present at the time Christopher, who was unable to swim, drowned.
Hilary Brown, of Race Alliance Wales, said it was “unacceptable” for South Wales Police to decide Christopher’s death was an accident without undertaking a thorough investigation.
South Wales Police said it was still investigating and had referred the family’s complaint to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The complaint by Christopher’s mother, Alina Joseph, alleges South Wales Police failed to collect and examine vital evidence concerning her son’s death, which she believes involves suspicious circumstances.
The complaint also alleges South Wales Police discriminated against Ms Joseph and failed to provide information to her due to the colour of her skin.
Hilary Brown, of Race Alliance Wales, said: “If the police knew early on there were 14 people present, the plan should be to identify them and to interview them.
“You don’t just speak to four young people who may have witnessed something they have never seen in their lives before and in 24 hours form an opinion.
“Regardless of whether the outcome is an accidental death, to imply that so early on before everyone has
been identified is wrong. The kind of feedback you’d want as a parent would be the police saying they’re going to gather all the names and interview those people.
“This is an extremely tragic time and it’s enough that (Ms Joseph) has to try to get to grips with understanding why and how her child prematurely died.
“It’s unacceptable to her to have to be seen in dispute with the police, who should be standing with her and supporting her and helping her and everybody else to get to grips with what happened to this boy.”
Suresh Grover, of The Monitoring Group, helped Ms Joseph to lodge her appeal to the IOPC.
He said: “(The police) decided in 24 hours to close the investigation without talking to all the people who were present at the scene and without examining all of the evidence that should have been collected and assessed properly.
“Alina is a single mother with seven children who has lost a son who was only 13. She is extremely distressed, she should be grieving and her grief has been overtaken by the disappointment she feels.
“I can’t stress enough how devastating this is for Alina and Christopher’s brothers and sisters. This is a mother who should be looking after her family rather than forcing another investigation. They believe there are sufficient suspicious circumstances that led to the death.
“There’s no way, unless there’s such strong evidence of an accident, the police should have come to the conclusion they did in such a short space of time.
“They weren’t willing or able to offer any information to Alina, which compounded her grief and devastation, and she believes she was treated in this way due to her ethnic origin and she believes if she wasn’t black she would have been given more information if nothing else.”
Christopher, who played for Mountain Ash juniors under-13s, was described as a talented footballer and a popular teenager by his friends and family.
The community response to his death has been “overwhelming”, with more than £8,000 raised to support the family.
Christopher’s funeral will take place at 10.30am at St Margaret’s Church, Mountain Ash, today, with the burial at Thornhill cemetery at 12.30pm.
A spokesman from South Wales Police said the force was continuing to investigate the circumstances of Christopher’s death.
The force said: “South Wales Police has received a complaint following the death of Christopher Kapessa.
“It has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct under the mandatory referral criteria.
“South Wales Police will co-operate fully with the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”