Appeal to be made over ‘unusual’ Noah Donohoe movements before disappearance

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

A public appeal for information is to be made over the “unusual” movements of schoolboy Noah Donohoe on the night before he went missing.

A coroner said CCTV footage of Noah leaving his Belfast home in the middle of the night should be shared with the public in an attempt to gain answers ahead of an inquest.

Noah, 14, was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020 – six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet friends.

Coroner Mr Justice Rooney is presiding over the inquest for the St Malachy’s College pupil.

Noah’s mother, Fiona Donohoe, who was in attendance for the hearing on Tuesday at the Royal Courts of Justice, is hoping to get answers to some of her questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process.

At the preliminary hearing, counsel to the coroner Peter Coll said an issue had been raised by the legal representatives of Ms Donohoe over the potential for the court to issue a public appeal for information.

Mr Coll said: “In the confines of the appeal, it would be made clear there is evidence on certainly at least one occasion Noah was out in the early hours of the morning in what might be described as unusual circumstances, and to try to ascertain whether anybody in the public could shed any further light on that.

“Not just that particular date, but more generally on other occasions.”

Counsel for Ms Donohoe, Brenda Campbell KC, said she had hoped that a review of CCTV footage would provide answers about where Noah had gone when he left his house the night before he went missing.

She said: “We don’t have any answers to that.

“We are left in a situation where we know from available footage that Noah left home for about 35 minutes in the middle of the night, the night before he disappeared.

“We know he left home wearing flip-flops and carrying quite prominent headphones.

We simply have no idea where he went, why he went out, whether he met anybody.

“We know that when he comes back 35 minutes later, he appears to be barefoot, and there is no sign of the flip-flops or headphones.

“We simply have no idea where he went, why he went out, whether he met anybody.

“He doesn’t appear to be distressed on his return, but there are very significant questions that, from Ms Donohoe’s perspective, if there is an answer there, we would like to know what it is.”

Ms Campbell said there had been no prior public appeal about Noah’s movements at this time.

She added: “It (the CCTV) is going to be played in the inquest, it is inevitably going to feature, and at that point it will trigger public interest.

“The concern is if we wait until that point, someone may have an idea of the context of this footage, or we may get offers of information from the public that we will simply not be able to process within the confines of the inquest itself.

“We propose that the footage is disclosed to the press and made available so there can be an appeal for information.”

Mr Justice Rooney said he agreed with the request that the footage would be shared and asked for the public appeal to be made over the next week.

The court also heard that the coroner had received further material from investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre.

The reporter, known for his undercover TV investigations, has been probing the disappearance of Noah. His investigation has been funded by online donations.

Mr MacIntyre's material, such material as he has in full that may assist us in this inquest, should be handed over as soon as possible so as not to jeopardise any start date

Mr Coll told the court that Mr MacIntyre had indicated in his correspondence that he holds further material which may be of interest to the inquest.

Ms Campbell said: “Our concern as we currently see it is we are eight weeks out from the start of this inquest.

“Those eight weeks are already packed with a very significant amount of work which needs to be done to ensure that we are ready.

“Mr MacIntyre’s material, such material as he has in full that may assist us in this inquest, should be handed over as soon as possible so as not to jeopardise any start date.”

Mr Justice Rooney asked Ms Campbell if she would write to the journalist asking him to hand over all materials.

He said: “My office has already done that and will do it again, but a letter from the next of kin to Mr MacIntyre may also hopefully prompt a response.”

The coroner also suggested his counsel attempt to set up a meeting with Mr MacIntyre.

He said: “It would be most disconcerting when we are very close to the start of this inquest that there are materials which Mr MacIntyre has which he considers very relevant, which indeed may be relevant, that we don’t have access to those materials in advance of the inquest.

“Otherwise we will have problems.”

Mr Coll said Mr MacIntyre had been very cooperative with the proceedings.

The jury inquest is scheduled to start on November 3rd.

A further review hearing will take place on September 29th.