Noah Donohoe: Inquest into teenager's death delayed

An inquest into the death of Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe is to be delayed after his family raised concerns about the timescale.

The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he went missing.

The inquest had originally been scheduled to begin on 10 January next year.

But a barrister for his mother Fiona told a preliminary hearing more time was needed to resolve "serious issues".

Brenda Campbell QC, representing Fiona Donohoe, told the coroner the family had concerns over being given time to consider three expert reports which they received this week and was waiting on the results of an external review into the original PSNI investigation.

She said: "It is no overstatement to say that this is one of the most sensitive and, in some respects, controversial and mysterious inquests that this jurisdiction has encountered.

"Within the next eight weeks there is a huge amount of work to be undertaken and it is just not feasible we will have completed."

The hearing heard that a detective chief superintendent from an outside police force had visited Northern Ireland to review the original PSNI investigation into Noah's death.

Barrister for the PSNI Donal Lunny QC described it as a "peer support exercise" and said the officer had "access to both the investigation team and the documents in relation to the investigation".

"I understand the purpose of that exercise is to provide an independent view on the direction and the depth and the conclusions of the original investigation, and to identify any further steps that the PSNI might take," he added.

Mr Lunny said that report was expected to be with the PSNI by the end of November.

Coroner Joe McCrisken accepted the submissions and said he would leave the matter of rescheduling the inquest until the next preliminary hearing on 8 December.