Noah Donohoe inquest jury agree unanimous findings after five days deliberating Tue, 15 Sep, 2026 – 13:34Rebecca Black
The jury at the inquest into the death of Belfast school boy Noah Donohoe has reached a unanimous decision on its findings.
On the fifth day of deliberations the foreman of the jury confirmed the development to Coroner Mr Justice Rooney.
It comes after 32 hours of deliberations across five days during the proceedings at Belfast Coroner’s Court.
The court has risen to allow the form on which the findings have been recorded to be checked.
The long-running coronial probe started in January examining the death of the 14-year-old whose body was found in an underground water tunnel in the north of the city in June 2020.
An autopsy concluded that the cause of Noah’s death was drowning.
Noah had been missing for six days with large scale search operations mounted to find him.
The inquest has heard evidence from 76 witnesses and statements from a further 42 people, and involved maps, video footage, photographs, police logs and expert reports.
It resumed at Belfast Coroner’s Court on Monday following an adjournment in July.
Mr Justice Rooney dismissed one juror before the remaining nine, seven men and two women, resumed their deliberations.
Proceedings were adjourned at the start of July after jurors had deliberated for 24 hours over three days and were unable to reach an unanimous verdict.
Noah’s mother, Fiona, has been present for every day of the inquest.
Jurors were tasked with agreeing findings on 10 questions, including the date of Noah’s death and whether any errors made by police contributed to his death.
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