Officer tells inquest of theory missing boy feared to have had head injury
By Helen William, Press Association
A missing boy who was found in a storm drain could have hurt his head falling off his bicycle, an inquest jury has heard.
It was among a number of working scenarios that were considered by detectives looking into the disappearance of Noah Donohoe in north Belfast in June 2020.
Brenda Campbell, counsel for Noah’s mother, Fiona Donohoe, said Noah was the centre of a high-risk missing person investigation and his behaviour had “cried out for an explanation”.
Detective Sergeant Gardner, who was the CCTV co-ordinator in the investigation, said detectives were starting from Northwood Road – the last sighting of Noah – and working backwards in their efforts to trace material relating to the missing boy.
He recalled that at one point “it was a considered hypothesis that he had a head injury” after Noah had fallen off his bike.
The inquest at Belfast coroner’s court into the death of the schoolboy, which is being heard with a jury, is in its fifth week.
Noah, a pupil at St Malachy’s College, was 14 when his naked body was found in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast six days after leaving home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.
A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was drowning.
Officers were deployed on the ground to find CCTV that Noah appeared on.
Ms Campbell questioned the officer on the use of CCTV in the missing person investigation, including the need for immediate trawls for footage, seizing key images quickly, how this material fitted in with other lines of inquiry and ensuring that the timings on the material was accurate.
Mr Gardner said he would have expected officers to “time-check and seize” the relevant footage, and the primary aim was to try and find Noah.
Ms Campbell described Noah as “vulnerable” at the time and said his appearance in Northwood Road meant that something had gone wrong on his journey.
She told the officer: “Firstly, he had his laptop, his backpack, at one stage, and not at another.
“You also knew by the time you came in on the Wednesday that his phone had been found in a separate location.
“There was a suggestion that he had fallen from his bike with no explanation as to why he had fallen from his bike.
“His coat appeared to have been discarded in that area where he had fallen off his bike but it had not been found.
“You also knew that from there he proceeded up Northwood Road and items of his clothing were found on Northwood Road, and you knew that he was last seen naked.
“Not only did we need to find him because of that level of vulnerability that he was in, but what happened to him cried out for an explanation.”
Mr Gardner responded: “Yes, if indeed something did happen to him.”
On a possible police hypothesis as to why he was behaving like that on Northwood Road, Mr Gardner said the only thing he recalls is a discussion at one point about a possible injury.
He said: “I believe, after we had learned he had fallen off his bike, it was a considered hypothesis he had a head injury, but that was just because we had heard he had fallen off his bike.”
Mr Gardner said he was not aware of any other hypothesis about why Noah behaved that way he did in Northwood Road, “beyond, obviously, the concerns about his mental wellbeing before he left the house.”
Ms Campbell said there was no evidence of blood on Noah’s top.
Noah’s helmet was recovered by police and it was undamaged, the court heard.
Mr Gardner said “the objective was primarily to find him (Noah)” and then try to get information on how he became parted from his possessions such as his coat, backpack and phone.
