An inquest has heard that a crucial CCTV sighting of schoolboy Noah Donohoe near a leisure centre was apparently missed by police during the critical first 24 hours after his disappearance. Noah, a 14-year-old pupil at St Malachy's College, was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bicycle to meet friends in the Cavehill area.
Critical CCTV Evidence Overlooked
The inquest, now in its third week with a jury, was told that police logs indicated CCTV from the Grove leisure centre on Shore Road was checked on the day after Noah vanished, with officers recording "negative results." However, counsel for Noah's mother, Brenda Campbell KC, revealed that Noah was indeed captured on that footage, but a timing discrepancy meant he was missed.
Ms Campbell explained that the leisure centre's CCTV system operated approximately 43 minutes behind real time. She stated that if officers checked the footage for 6pm without accounting for this lag, they would be viewing a period 40 minutes after Noah had passed, thus never seeing him. "It appears Noah may have been missed on that Grove footage because he was on it at 6.01pm when we were told it was a 'negative result'," she told the court.
Police Procedures Under Scrutiny
Detective Constable Keatley, who was on duty the day after Noah disappeared, testified that she was not tasked with checking CCTV and could not comment on other officers' actions. However, she acknowledged that basic policing should involve verifying whether CCTV systems are in real time. Ms Campbell questioned the urgency of pursuing footage, noting that at 8pm on June 23, the Grove leisure centre footage "still hasn't been identified, much less collected."
Police logs showed confusion over the footage, with entries variously describing it as "poor," having a "30-minute time difference," or stating "no CCTV available." Ms Campbell suggested this created a "grey area" for police in determining its relevance. Counsel for the PSNI, Donal Lunny KC, argued the importance of the footage evolved as Noah's last sighting was updated, but it remained key for investigating a possible head injury from a bike fall.
Emotional Testimony and Communication
Detective Constable Keatley also described her interactions with Noah's mother, Fiona Donohoe, who has attended every day of the inquest. She recalled sending a text to Noah's phone before it was found, assuring him he was not in trouble, and later answering the phone when Ms Donohoe called it after it was located. "I didn't want her getting excited," the constable said, acknowledging it was a difficult situation as Ms Donohoe might have expected Noah to answer.
Ms Keatley remembered Ms Donohoe saying "something along the lines that she knew he was maybe no longer alive" when told about Noah's clothes being found. Counsel for the coroner, Declan Quinn, noted the constable faced "a highly emotional situation" and was "doing all you could" for Ms Donohoe, which Ms Campbell agreed was not in dispute.
Investigation Timeline and Ongoing Questions
The inquest heard that Noah's bike was sighted at 7pm on June 22, with confirmation of its discovery around 9pm, and CCTV from Northwood Road, where he was last seen, was retrieved. Mr Lunny said police were "beyond" footage from North Queen Street by this point. However, the Grove leisure centre footage, dated as recovered on June 26, 2020, raised questions about delays in the investigation.
Ms Campbell emphasised that without cross-checking timestamps, CCTV footage could be "minutes or hours out" and have "no relevance at all" to the case. Detective Constable Keatley responded that she would typically ask about time differences when reviewing footage. The inquest continues, with proceedings set to resume on February 16, as the search for answers into Noah's tragic death persists.
