Light level assessed in drain where Noah Donohoe's body was found, court told
By Rebecca Black, PA
The level of light in a storm drain where the body of Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe was found five years ago has been examined recently, a court has heard.
It emerged during a preliminary hearing ahead of an inquest to be held into the 14-year-old’s death, which is due to start in January.
Mr Justice Rooney, who is presiding over the inquest, questioned why no one had thought to do this before.
Noah, a student at St Malachy’s College, was found dead in a drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet friends.
The jury inquest has been delayed a number of times.
The latest in a series of preliminary hearings took place at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on Monday morning.
Noah’s mother, Fiona Donoho,e watched proceedings by remote link
A meeting of experts is due to take place later this week.
Neasa Murnaghan KC, acting for the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure, which owns the storm drain network where Noah was found, told the hearing on Monday morning that someone had climbed down into the culvert to assess the “ingress of light”.
“It was felt that that could be a relevant consideration, just how dark it would be in the culvert, so we’ve carried out two further examinations and investigations,” she said.
“We proposed that the result of those investigations would be formally committed to a statement that we would hope to have before the court.”
Mr Justice Rooney said: “Since 2020, you’re saying no one ever considered the issue of light getting into the culvert?”
She responded: “Not in the sort of concentrated way… it was a very long consultation… it was while discussing the harsh conditions that while looking at photographs that were lit, it occurred that of course that the actual conditions… there was no lighting, and that led to a discussion about whether one would literally see one’s hand in front of one’s face.”
Brenda Campbell KC, acting for Ms Donohoe, said they would like to know when they can expect the results.
Ms Murnaghan said the outcome of the investigations is expected to be available by Wednesday.
