8 cases heard before Northern Ireland courts this week

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Here is your latest court round-up for cases heard from January 26-30

8 cases before Northern Ireland courts this week

1. This week marked the second week of the inquest into the death of Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe. Between Monday and Thursday, the Coroner’s Court heard from Noah’s friend, and witnesses in the Northwood Road area of Belfast who had seen the 14-year-old cycling on his bike. On Thursday, a witness said she at first thought it was a “prank” when she saw Noah riding his bike naked.
2. The family of Alesia Nazarova have issued a statement saying their lives will never be the same again as her brother is handed a life sentence for her murder. Kornelijus Bracas, 27, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Monday, January 26, where he was told that he would serve a minimum of 24 years in prison for the murder of his sister in her Portadown home in March 2023.
3. On Monday, two Co Tyrone men who brought a “massive quantity of high quality cannabis” into Northern Ireland were jailed. The pair were sentenced at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, by Judge Richard Greene KC who divided both terms equally between prison and supervised licence.
4. A Belfast woman appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on Tuesday, January 27, and was fined over an incident in which her dog attacked another dog last summer. Patricia McGahey of Albert Street, Belfast was sentenced following the incident, which happened on 28 May 2025.
5. On Wednesday, a date was set for the trial over the murder of Natalie McNally after barristers agreed to exempt the case from an ongoing strike. Ms McNally, 32, died after she was stabbed at her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on December 18 2022. She had been 15 weeks pregnant.
6. A 41-year old man who broke another man’s jaw in a flat in Ballymoney was jailed for a year on Thursday. When he is released from custody, Rodney Bonnes will spend an additional year on licence. From Kinsale Park in Derry, Bonnes was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court for three offences dating back to November 2, 2021.
7. Michael Flatley has said he’ll be “calling his dancers”, as a legal order blocking him from engaging with the Lord Of The Dance production was overturned by a court in Belfast on Thursday.
8. A “wicked” East Belfast woman who left a man seriously ill after pretending to be a kidney donor has been jailed for five months after her appeal was rejected on Friday. Last year, Nicola Hutton of Strandburn Drive, was convicted of a false communication offence after she pretended to be a kidney donor to severely ill Billy Cullen who was in urgent need of transplant. She had led on Billy and his wife Joanne for six months after coming to them following a Belfast Live appeal saying she was a donor match.

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