Noah Donohoe inquest deliberations resume in Belfast after juror discharged

The long-running inquest into the death of Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe has returned.

At the beginning of the hearing at Belfast Coroner’s Court on Monday, a juror was discharged.

Coroner Kevin Rooney made the ruling and imposed reporting restrictions.

The remaining nine jurors are to resume deliberations following an “unprecedented” late-night sitting in July.

The 14-year-old was found dead in an underground water tunnel in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he left home to meet friends, sparking a major search operation.

The inquest into the circumstances of Noah’s death began in January.

Ten questions have been presented to jurors on which they must reach a unanimous verdict. Among the questions they must consider is the date of Noah’s death and whether any errors made by police contributed to his death.

The St Malachy’s College pupil had cycled across the city from his home in south Belfast to the Northwood Road area of north Belfast on Sunday, June 21st, 2020.

He abandoned his bicycle on a pavement at Northwood Road close to waste ground where a culvert entrance to an underground water system is located.

His body was found more than 600m downstream in the tunnel. He had previously been seen falling off his bicycle, as well as discarding his clothes and cycling naked.

A postmortem found that the likely cause of death was drowning.

The inquest began hearing evidence in late January and was expected to last until Easter.

It has heard evidence from 76 witnesses, statements from a further 42 people, as well as maps, video footage, photographs, police logs and expert reports.

Adjourning the hearing in July, the coroner warned jurors to “avoid all speculation and rumour”, particularly on social media, as they were “still in deliberation”.

“Please do not allow yourself to be contaminated in any way by outside influences,” he added.

In his lengthy summing up of the case, Rooney previously said it was for the jury to decide whether PSNI errors were made in the search for the teenager and whether these could have contributed to his death.