No evidence of third-party involvement, Noah Donohoe inquest hears

There has been no evidence of any third-party involvement in Noah Donohoe's disappearance and death, an inquest has heard.

Det Ch Insp Tom Phillips has been giving evidence at the inquest for a third day.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) witness was the senior investigating officer in the case.

On Wednesday, Phillips was asked by a lawyer for the PSNI if there was any "plausible or reliable evidence" to suggest there had been "any interaction with a third party" before Noah's disappearance and death in north Belfast in June 2020. He replied: "No."

The hearing was told that the police arrived at this conclusion following consideration of a variety of issues.

These included there being no evidence of Noah having any adverse interaction with anyone on his final bicycle ride, the time it took him to cycle from his home to the location of his last sighting, and what was described as his "purposeful" manner as he cycled along the route of his last journey.

Referring to the police conclusion that there was no third-party involvement, Phillips said: "It's based on everything together."

Noah's body was found in an underground water tunnel six days after he disappeared at Northwood Road at the end of a bicycle ride across the city from his home in South Belfast.

He left him home at around 17:40 BST and was last seen shortly after 18:00 on 21 June 2020.

Phillips also issued a further apology about the police investigation into the disappearance and death of Noah.

On Wednesday, he told the inquest that there were "a number of failings" during the investigation.

However, he insisted that the detectives working on the case were "not incompetent" and any failings were "not deliberate".

"This was human error", he said.

The police witness was responding to a series of questions from a barrister for Fiona Donohoe, Noah's mother.

The lawyer repeated instances where she stated there were police failings which "we say contributed to Noah's death".

The hearing was told that the Donohoe family had concerns about many aspects of the police investigation from the early stages of his disappearance onwards.

According to the family lawyer, these included a delay in conducting searches at the culvert entrance leading to the underground water tunnel where Noah's body was found six days after he disappeared on 21 June.

Phillips was also questioned by the family barrister about his investigation considering a hypothesis that Noah disappeared "by choice".

"I think there are many unknowns," the witness responded.

He also defended police actions and considerations at the time, telling the Donohoe family barrister: "It wasn't as flippant as is being suggested."

The witness also told the inquest that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took control of the investigation within days of Noah's disappearance, but he insisted that this was not because "people were not doing their jobs".

He said the decision was taken to provide continuity and ownership in the investigation.

The inquest also heard about the scale of the unfolding police investigation during the search for the schoolboy.

Phillips said the investigation team was "trying to manage a vast amount of information".

"It was the biggest story in Northern Ireland for weeks, months, even still," he said.

He also explained how the police were receiving extensive volumes of information, including reported sightings, from members of the public across Belfast.

The hearing was told that all the reports had to be checked or followed up, but most of the calls ultimately had no relevance to the disappearance of Noah.

Phillips also explained to the PSNI barrister how the police regarded the information about Noah being naked before he disappeared as a "red flag" as they tried to consider a potential reason for someone removing all their clothes.

The coroner Mr Justice Rooney and the jury also heard that it led the police to consider the possibility that Noah could have suffered a head injury when he fell off his bicycle shortly before he disappeared. That theory was later discounted.

No evidence has emerged at the inquest to explain why Noah was naked.

Phillips was also asked about CCTV footage from Noah's home which showed him going out onto nearby streets in the early hours of the morning of his disappearance.

The inquest was shown a police note which recorded how the schoolboy's mother provided reassurances to officers before the CCTV was viewed.

The police note recorded that Fiona Donohoe told officers: "No way Noah could sneak out with the squeaky doors."

When the CCTV was eventually examined by the PSNI it revealed that Noah had left his home at 03:34 BST on the morning of 21 June, a Sunday, and returned more than half an hour later at 04:08.

The coroner and the jury heard that Fiona Donohoe was always forthcoming with helpful information about her son during the investigation and the police had no reason to doubt her reassurance about the potential for Noah to leave the house without her knowledge.

The PSNI barrister also explained that Noah's mother was in the house on the Saturday night and Sunday morning when Noah was captured on camera going out onto the nearby streets.

The lawyer said the police officers were also advised by Fiona Donohoe that Noah had not left the house since about 18:00 the previous evening after he returned home from a day out with a school friend.

The inquest has now heard from the final witness.