The mother of a 13-year-old boy who died after allegedly being pushed into a river has vowed to launch a private prosecution if the authorities continue to refuse to take action against the teenage suspect.
Alina Joseph, the mother of Christopher Kapessa, said she was certain that if her son had not been black, the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would have taken the case more seriously.
Speaking before a judicial review hearing on the case at the high court in London on Thursday, Joseph said: “The death of Christopher has been an emotional rollercoaster. There’s not a day goes by when we don’t miss him. It’s an unbearable pain.
“I shouldn’t be having to fight for justice for Christopher. The police are aware of everything that has happened to him. He lost his life at the hands of another individual. I shouldn’t have to fight for justice; justice should be handed to him.”
Christopher died in July 2019 after ending up in the River Cynon close to his home in Rhondda Cynon Taff, south Wales. Joseph said at first police told her it was a tragic accident, but after she complained and sought help from the anti-racism organisation the Monitoring Group, the force reinvestigated and passed a file to the CPS.
The CPS said witnesses described the 14-year-old suspect pushing Christopher, who could not swim, into the river. It said there was evidence to support a case for manslaughter, but judged that it was not in the public interest to press ahead with a prosecution.
The CPS also concluded that there was nothing to suggest Christopher was the victim of a hate crime, though his mother said he had suffered racial abuse and violence since the family moved to Wales from London in 2011.
“Christopher suffered numerous attacks,” she said. “It was a sad experience for him. This would have been different had he been white. There are too many systemic failures here, too much institutional racism. What other name can you call it?”
Joseph, who has seven other children, is in the process of moving because she no longer feels safe in her home. She is also frustrated that she has not seen the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on the case.
At the high court hearing on Thursday, the human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC will argue that the CPS decision not to authorise a charge should be reviewed. Joseph said: “I’m Christopher’s mother. I want to know what happened to my son.”
Retired judge Ray Singh, chairman of Race Council Cymru, said it was a “heartbreaking” case. Pointing out that the CPS had concluded there was evidence to support a prosecution, he said: “It is our view that justice has to be seen to be done no matter how difficult it may be. Justice and fairness is paramount.”
Suresh Grover, the co-director of the Monitoring Group, said the case had parallels with the murder of Stephen Lawrence, with a mother’s concerns being repeatedly ignored. “This case is being watched nationally,” he added.
Dorothea Jones, co-executive director of the Monitoring Group, said the suspect had been portrayed as an innocent while the impression left was that Christopher’s life was “disposable and cheap”.
A spokesperson for the CPS said: “We are incredibly conscious when looking at cases involving young people. A specialist prosecutor reviewed the evidence and found that our legal test for prosecuting the young suspect was not met. Race played no part in our decision-making.”
The South Wales assistant chief constable, Jenny Gilmer, said: “Christopher’s death was a tragedy and we acknowledge that the pain and grief of that continues to this day. We also understand that Christopher’s family are deeply unhappy with elements of the initial investigation into the circumstances of his death. We await the IOPC’s findings.”
The IOPC said: “We have sought permission from the coroner to be able to share our full findings with Christopher’s family, in light of their need to understand the outcome. This approval is necessary so as not to risk prejudice to any potential future inquest.”
