Christopher Kapessa drowned after being deliberately pushed into river – coroner
A 13-year-old boy died after being deliberately pushed into a river in South Wales in July 2019 in a “dangerous prank”, a coroner has found.
Assistant coroner David Regan gave the finding on Monday at the inquest into the death of Christopher Kapessa, after a two-week hearing at South Wales Coroner’s Court.
Christopher, described as “loving, caring, passionate and very protective” by his family, died after entering the River Cynon in Fernhill in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, on July 1 2019.
Four witnesses told the inquest in Pontypridd that another boy, who can now be named as Jayden Pugh after an application by the PA news agency, had pushed Christopher from a ledge into the water.
Mr Pugh, who was 14 at the time and is now 19, told the inquest that he accidentally fell into Christopher, did not deliberately push him in and did not suggest doing so.
