Key points after 13th week of Noah Donohoe inquest

The inquest into the death of the 14-year-old, which is being heard with a jury at Belfast Coroner’s Court, has just finished its 13th week.

Fiona Donohoe, the mother of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe, arriving to Belfast Coroner’s Court,(Image: © 2026 PA Media, All Rights Reserved)

• A man who stole Noah Donohoe’s missing laptop has denied that it is his hand in a picture discovered on the schoolboy’s phone after he was last seen. On Monday, Daryl Paul told Belfast Coroner’s Court he had “never set eyes” on Noah and insisted under questioning that he had never been in possession of his green coat or phone.
• Daryl Paul, of Cliftonville Avenue, previously pleaded guilty to stealing a  rucksack containing Noah’s laptop and books. He resumed giving evidence on Monday when he was questioned by Brenda Campbell KC, who represents Ms Donohoe. Pointing out that Paul had previously lied under police questioning, the barrister said there were aspects of his possession of Noah’s belongings that “call for questions to be asked”.
• The jury was shown CCTV footage of Paul in the Queen’s Quarter area of Belfast, close to Noah’s Fitzroy Avenue home, from the evening the schoolboy disappeared. Daryl Paul said he had been in the area to see Maria Nolan, who he said he had recently met, and who has previously given evidence at the inquest.
• On Wednesday, a risk assessment expert has told the inquest he is “quite certain” that there was a “public safety issue” at the entrance to a culvert which the schoolboy entered. Dr Mark Cooper told Belfast Coroner’s Court that he would have been “alert” to the risk if he had visited the site before the schoolboy died in 2020.
• Dr Cooper told the inquest: “I am quite certain that had I gone to that culvert and seen what I had seen in terms of the public access to it, and also the picture I have seen of an employee walking through the screens, at that point before anything may have happened I think I would have been alert to the public safety issue here. It is very persuasive seeing those photographs of an adult walking through the bars. That would have caused, without any bias, on its own would have caused me to be concerned about the public safety issue.”
• The inquest will resume on Monday.

Man denies his hand is in photograph found on Noah Donohoe’s phone

A man who stole Noah Donohoe’s missing laptop has denied that it is his hand in a picture discovered on the schoolboy’s phone after he was last seen.

Daryl Paul told Belfast Coroner’s Court that he had “never set eyes” on Noah and insisted under questioning that he had never been in possession of his green coat or phone.

The inquest into the death of the schoolboy, which is being heard before a jury, is now in its 13th 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 on June 27 2020, 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 likely cause of death was drowning.

Noah’s mother Fiona Donohoe has attended every day of the long-running proceedings.

Paul, of Cliftonville Avenue, previously pleaded guilty to stealing a rucksack containing Noah’s laptop and books.

He resumed giving evidence on Monday when he was questioned by Brenda Campbell KC, who represents Ms Donohoe.

Pointing out that Paul had previously lied under police questioning, the barrister said there were aspects of his possession of Noah’s belongings that “call for questions to be asked”.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of Paul in the Queen’s Quarter area of Belfast, close to Noah’s Fitzroy Avenue home, from the evening the schoolboy disappeared.

Paul said he had been in the area to see Maria Nolan, who he said he had recently met, and who has previously given evidence at the inquest.

Ms Campbell said: “On those occasions when you hung outside Queen’s Quarter like this afternoon, do you think you would have seen Noah? Did you speak to him?”

Paul replied: “No, never.”

She asked him if he had any knowledge of Noah leaving his home for a short period on the night before he disappeared.

Paul said: “I don’t know a single thing and if I did I would be the first to tell you, I have a heart.”

The jury was then shown CCTV footage of Noah cycling past Paul in Queen’s Quarter, wearing his green coat and carrying his  rucksack.

Ms Campbell said: “This is the last time he leaves home, and you’re within a matter of metres of him.”

She pointed out that within an hour, Noah’s rucksack ended up in a green bag Paul is seen carrying in the footage.

The witness said: “I have no knowledge of that wee boy passing me.”

The barrister said: “What I want to explore on behalf of Noah’s mother is this series of coincidences, to understand whether they are coincidences or whether there’s reason to be more concerned.”

Ms Campbell continued: “Did you look in the direction of Noah after he went past?”