The mother of a schoolboy who was pushed in a river has accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police of institutional racism over a failure to prosecute their main suspect. Christopher Kapessa, 13, was with a group of youngsters by the River Cynon, south Wales, when he entered the water and drowned. The body of the teenager, who could not swim, was found in the river on July 1, last year but police initially insisted it was a ‘tragic accident’ and there were no suspicious circumstances. The family has been told that due to insufficient evidence, the main suspect cannot be prosecuted.
But what do the feds say?
The Crown Prosecution Service’s report mentioned, ‘There was clear evidence that the suspect pushed Christopher in the back with both hands causing him to fall into the river.’ the report continued saying, ‘That push was an unlawful act and it was clearly dangerous in that on an objective standard it created a danger of some harm.’ It added the evidence suggested the push was ‘not in an effort to harm someone’ but ‘ill considered’ and there was no public interest in prosecuting the youngster. They said that only 4 of the 14 students who were present at the scene were questioned. The family’s lawyer Hilary Brown said: ‘The decision of the CPS is disappointing in light of the fact that they confirmed that the evidential threshold was met for bringing a charge of manslaughter against a young man. ‘Christopher died not as a result of a “tragic accident” as South Wales Police initially concluded, but as a consequence and direct result of being “pushed” into the river.’ A CPS spokesperson said: ‘Decisions on cases such as this are difficult, but each must be judged on its own merit. As in every case, both an evidential test and public interest test must be passed for a prosecution to take place. ‘In coming to our decision, careful consideration was given to the law regarding the prosecution of youths and the public interest test was not met. To read more from ProperGaanda: Hosni Mubarak, former Egyptian President dies at 91