An inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe has heard that crucial CCTV footage from a leisure centre appears to have been "missed" by police during the initial 24-hour search period after he went missing in June 2020. The proceedings, now in their third week at Belfast Coroner's Court, have revealed potential oversights in the early stages of the investigation.
Critical First Day Oversight
Noah Donohoe, a pupil at St Malachy's College, left his home on his bicycle on Sunday, June 21, 2020, to meet friends in the Cavehill area of north Belfast. His body was discovered six days later in a storm drain, with a post-mortem examination concluding the cause of death was drowning. His mother, Fiona Donohoe, has attended every day of the inquest, which is being heard before a jury.
Police Logs Reveal Discrepancy
On Thursday, Detective Constable Keatley, who was on duty the day after Noah's disappearance, continued her evidence. Counsel for Fiona Donohoe, Brenda Campbell KC, presented police logs indicating that officers checked CCTV at the Grove Leisure Centre at 3.15pm on Monday, June 22, recording "negative results." However, Ms Campbell asserted that Noah was indeed visible on that footage at approximately 6.01pm.
Ms Campbell highlighted a significant issue: the leisure centre's CCTV system was around 43 minutes behind real time. She argued that it would be "basic policing" to verify the accuracy of a CCTV system's timestamp, especially during a high-risk missing person investigation. "If an officer or officers on CCTV duty checked the camera time for 6pm rather than the real time, they are looking at a period 40 minutes after Noah has passed. And so he's never going to be on it," she explained.
Confusion Over Footage Status
The inquest heard that police logs later described the Grove Leisure Centre footage as "poor" and noted a "30-minute time difference." A subsequent entry stated: "Enquiries conducted at Grove leisure centre, no CCTV available at this time, no staff present to operate it." Ms Campbell suggested this created a "grey area" regarding whether the footage was genuinely negative or if the camera times were incorrect.
Detective Constable Keatley, who had no direct involvement in checking the CCTV on that Monday, agreed that Noah "may have been missed on that Grove footage." She noted that her understanding was that "everyone was very invested in this investigation," but she could not comment on the actions of other officers.
Timeline of Evidence Gathering
Ms Campbell pointed out that by 8pm on Tuesday, June 23, the Grove Leisure Centre footage "still hasn't been identified, much less collected." Detective Constable Keatley, who was working a 13th hour into her 12-hour shift at that time, confirmed this. In a police log, she had noted that the CCTV was checked, with a possible sighting at 5.30pm, but added that Noah should have been cycling past between 5.57pm and 6.08pm on the Sunday. Her note recommended: "If the footage can be double checked as there is cameras at both ends of the Grove which should pick him up."
A separate PSNI sheet for tracking the CCTV trawl, shown at the inquest, indicated that the footage labelled "Grove Wellbeing" was not recovered until Friday, June 26, 2020.
Police Perspective on Priorities
Counsel for the PSNI, Donal Lunny KC, argued that the "importance" of the Grove Leisure Centre CCTV had "changed from Monday into Tuesday." He explained that by Tuesday, police had confirmed key events, such as the sighting of Noah's bike at 7pm and its discovery around 9pm, along with retrieving footage from Northwood Road, where Noah was last seen. Mr Lunny stated that at this point, police were "beyond" CCTV footage from North Queen Street.
He maintained that the Grove footage remained important for the investigation, potentially helping to determine if Noah had sustained a head injury after an earlier fall from his bike. Mr Lunny also suggested it was standard procedure to only conduct a formal time check when CCTV is being seized, a point with which Detective Constable Keatley agreed.
Emotional Testimony and Communication
Earlier in the proceedings, Detective Constable Keatley described her communications with Fiona Donohoe in the 48 hours after Noah's disappearance. She recalled sending a text to Noah's phone before it was located, assuring him he was not in trouble, as per police protocol. She also answered the phone when Ms Donohoe called it after it was found, describing this as a "difficult" situation to prevent false hope.
Counsel for the coroner, Declan Quinn, noted that the constable was faced with "a highly emotional situation" and recognised it as "every mother's worst nightmare." Detective Constable Keatley agreed, stating she felt she had a rapport with Ms Donohoe and was invested in the case. She also recalled informing Ms Donohoe about Noah's clothes being found, remembering her say "something along the lines that she knew he was maybe no longer alive."
Questions Over Investigation Protocols
Ms Campbell questioned whether, "in the middle of a high-risk missing person," police might "turn a blind eye to real time" regarding CCTV timestamps. She warned that without cross-checking, footage could be "minutes or hours out" and have "no relevance at all" to the case. Detective Constable Keatley responded that she would "at least ask someone 'is there any time difference in your footage' and make an inquiry."
The inquest continues on Monday, February 16, as further evidence is examined regarding the search for Noah Donohoe and the handling of critical CCTV footage during those initial, crucial hours.
