Christopher Kapessa's mum critical of police response following his death
The inquest concluded that the teenager was pushed into the River Cynon by another boy as part of a prank.
The mum of a 13-year-old boy who died after he was pushed into a river in a South Wales river has criticised South Wales Police's response.
Alina Joseph's son Christopher Kapessa drowned in the River Cynon in Fernhill in 2019.
The inquest into his death on Monday heard yesterday that the teenager was shoved in the back by a boy, who was then 14, in "a misplaced sense of fun."
Christopher Kapessa's mum says police were insensitive
Christopher's mum Alina says she wasn't happy with the conduct of officers from South Wales Police at the time of the incident.
She said: "Terrible, absolutely cold. There was a lot of bias in their attitude.
"Their behaviour towards the family, it was one sided. They'd already made a decision before they came to my house."
She said she feels the way in which officers told her about Christopher's death and interacted with her was insensitive.
Alina said the police officers said "There's nothing sinister and that it was a tragic accident and they wanted me to accept it.
"The two police officers that came to the house they were emphasising that you just need to accept it. To me, that is wrong, you know, they were quite insensitive".
South Wales Police referred themselves to the police watchdog following complaints by Christopher's family.
The IOPC says it found “some shortcomings” in the way the force dealt with Christopher’s loved ones.
David Ford, director of the IOPC, said: "While it is clear that aspects of communication with Christopher's family could and should have been handled better by South Wales Police, we found no evidence to justify bringing any disciplinary proceedings against individual officers."
Assistant Chief Constable Danny Richards, of South Wales Police, said Christopher's death had "deeply shocked and affected" many people.
"We hope that this independent scrutiny and the outcome of the inquest proceedings will give us a greater understanding of the issues which have been raised about this case," he said.