Christopher Kapessa: Drowned boy’s family ‘suffered racial abuse’ | UK News

The mum of a teenage boy who drowned in a river said members of her family were beaten, urinated on, and run over before his death.

Christopher Kapessa, 13, died after allegedly being pushed into the River Cynon in Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales, on July 1 2019.

A 14-year-old boy was seen pushing Christopher from a ledge, South Wales Central Coroner’s Court heard.

He got into difficulty and boys, including the one who pushed him in, tried to rescue him but he drowned.

A teenager told the inquest he saw the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, push Christopher into the water with his hands.

‘I had a clear view of what happened,’ the 17-year-old said.

‘Everybody for a few seconds didn’t know if he could swim or not and there wasn’t a panic, and when people realised he couldn’t swim people jumped in to try and help him.

‘I think he was flailing and trying to keep himself above of the water.’

Alina Joseph, Christopher’s mum, told the court about the abuse her family suffered while living in Hirwaun between 2012 and 2018.

She and her seven children had moved from London.

She said in a written statement to the court: ‘While living in Hirwaun the children especially experienced so much negative and horrific treatment from other members of the community and at times we all felt very isolated because of such treatments.

‘Nevertheless, it was very difficult because the children wanted to play outside of the house and most of the time it ended up bad for my children.’

Alina said Christopher’s older brother Glody was assaulted.

‘At the same time we were receiving racial hate letters through the post, and stuff written on the outside walls which was racist,’ she said.

‘We contacted the police and a couple of them turned up and made Glody go through being interviewed on camera. In the end we were told there was not enough evidence to charge the boy who beat him.

‘When all the above was taking place, the boy started damaging the property. The police turned up and again said there is nothing they can do.’

Her other son Daniel was allegedly driven at by a motorist.

She said: ‘A mother who had on a few occasions knocked the house door to tell me that Daniel needs to stop talking to her daughter took it upon herself to get into her car and run Daniel over.

‘The police said there was not much they could do for me.’

A boy urinated on Christopher and his younger sister, the inquest also heard.

Alina said: ‘Another incident reported to the police was whereby a mother physically dragged Christopher by the neck from one part of the road to our house to tell me that Christopher and her son were playing a game that involved throwing stones at each other and her boys sustained a bump.

‘People in the street saw what she was also doing and no-one said anything. We started arguing and she turned around and started threatening me and then my house would soon be on the ground.’

She said Christopher was allegedly assaulted in the local Co-op store and required hospital treatment.

‘Obviously by this time, and due to previous encounters with the police, I did not bother calling them or reporting the incident to the police because I had given up on calling them,’ she said.

‘The family ceased to make complaints to the police regarding their experience with racist abuse because they were dissatisfied with their response on every prior occasion.’

Alina said on the day of her house fire in May 2018 police officers spoke with the children without the presence of her or a guardian.

She said: ‘The police attended and immediately took my older boys to one side and started saying to them “Who started the fire? Tell us the truth”,’

‘I was told by someone to attend the house of a lady that I did not know and then I found a lady police officer talking to Christopher without a guardian or parent present.

‘The police officer turned around and told me that it was Christopher that started the fire. The family were dissatisfied with how the police treated Christopher on this occasion.’

Alina said Christopher was also racially abused by another pupil at his school.

The trial continues.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : Felon who leapt over bench at judge returns to court with heavy restraint gear

MORE : Epstein ‘filmed sex tapes of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Richard Branson’

MORE : Mum says Brianna Ghey won’t get justice because ‘she will never come home’

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.