The inquest into the death of the schoolboy at Belfast Coroner’s Court, which is being heard with a jury, has just finished its seventh week.
Seven key points after week seven of inquest into death of Noah Donohoe
- Police “gripped” the seriousness of the investigation into the disappearance of Noah Donohoe at an early stage, the inquest heard this past week. Chief Inspector Robinson told Belfast Coroner’s Court on Monday that he had carried out a compliance review into how police carried out their search for the teenager in 2020.
- The witness told the jury he had identified five areas of non-compliance with PSNI procedures, including around the recording of risk assessments. He also referred to a more detailed review of the case that had been carried out by another inspector in August 2020. He said the “overall case” in this review was that there had been a “very good response to the investigation”. He said: “To be clear, I agree with the general thrust of the report that it was a good response.” The witness said the seriousness of the investigation had been “gripped at an early stage” by police. He said: “A large amount of police resources were engaged at a very early stage.”
- There was no evidence of “direct violence” from a third party in analysis of Noah’s body, a group of pathologists told the inquest on Tuesday. Three experts, including the pathologist who conducted Noah’s postmortem examination, agreed that his cause of death was likely drowning and evidence suggests he was alive when he encountered water in a storm drain. Jurors were shown a picture of Noah’s body that was not presented in court, as the pathologists discussed a “broad area of bruising” across his forehead.
- They agreed there was no positive evidence of a toxicological cause of death but that that could not be ruled out because of limits on toxicological analysis days after death. They agreed there was no evidence of any cause of death related to direct violence or injuries that would suggest involvement of a third party but that this cannot be ruled out on pathological evidence. The three pathologists agreed that Noah likely died closer to the time of his disappearance than the discovery of his body given the extent of decomposition.
- On Wednesday, questions were raised at the inquest as to why the PSNI did not provide a water sample from the storm drain where Noah’s body was found. The pathologist who conducted the 14-year-old’s postmortem examination said an additional test “would be supportive and helpful” but would not have changed her conclusion that Noah drowned.
- There was discussion of diatoms, a form of microorganism, that were found in Noah’s lungs, when the pathologists explained to the jury that the presence of these would indicate a person had drowned in natural water, as diatoms wouldn’t be found in treated or tap water. A sample can be taken from the water a body is found in and tested for diatoms, to see if they match those found in the deceased person. Dr Marjorie Turner, who carried out Noah’s post-mortem examination, told the court that a diatom test from a water sample “may have come back negative but that would not change my opinion of cause of death” being drowning.
- In questioning, Brenda Campbell KC, representing Fiona Donohoe, posited that in a post-mortem process there is an “opportunity in that autopsy to try and find answers” and that “opportunity might not come again”. She acknowledged that the absence of that test “doesn’t change anyone’s opinion on the agreed cause of death” but it does “potentially deprive” us of additional information. Former state pathologist for Northern Ireland Professor Jack Crane agreed, adding “if we had ability to compare diatoms in water and found in Noah’s body it would be supportive evidence” of the theory that he died in the storm drain.
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