Police investigating the death of teenager Noah Donohoe, whose body was discovered in a storm drain in Belfast, did not pursue reports of screaming heard near the location where the boy was found, an inquest revealed.
Noah, a student at St Malachy’s College, was 14 years old when he was found deceased on June 27, 2020, six days after he went missing while riding his bike to meet friends in the Cavehill area of the city.
His body was located over 600 meters downstream from where he was last seen near a culvert inlet behind residences at Northwood Road in north Belfast, with drowning determined as the likely cause of death during the post-mortem examination.
During the inquest at Belfast Coroner’s Court, it was disclosed that police only obtained statements from four out of seven residents who reported hearing noises, including screams, between midnight and 3 am on June 22, despite having a team of 25 detectives.
One couple, who heard three screams around 1:30 am behind their house on Northwood Road, were approached by police almost a year after their initial report, where they mentioned not hearing any shouting at that time.
Another resident who reported hearing noises at their front door was never contacted by the police for a statement. Additionally, a member of the public who reported their daughter hearing a scream on June 21 near the culvert did not provide a formal statement to the authorities.
The inquest highlighted that although details of these incidents were noted in police logs, with some deemed important enough to be included in a police chronology, statements were lacking from several key witnesses.
Detective Chief Inspector McCallum from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) explained that gathering statements from residents who heard screams was not prioritized during the investigation. The urgency of the search lessened after Noah’s body was found, according to DCI McCallum.
The investigating team switched to using notebooks and journals for case information due to challenges faced with managing data from public appeals. Despite criticisms from Noah’s mother’s counsel about the limited number of witness statements obtained, the police defended their investigative approach, citing resource allocation and priorities.