Noah Donohoe Inquest: Missed Urgency in Critical Days

0:00This has been Europe News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. The inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donahoe is dropping some heavy details this week at Belfast Corner's Court. Noah, a student at St. Malachai's College, vanished on his bike in North Belfast back in June 2020 and his naked body turned up drowned in a storm drain tunnel six days later. Now in its 11th week, the jury heard from a retired PSNI officer who led the hazardous search team. That officer, Inspector Manari, explained his crew got to the scene on June 23 but couldn't dive into the culvert to the next morning. Because they only had two people available, he crawled through for about 40 minutes, calling it a hostile spot with silt and potential toxic gases even though logs said it was safe. He figured a determined teen might make it through in under an hour. Social media conspiracy theories pulled crowds to the area and part of them got real antagonistic to our police, making searches tough.

1:02Officers even paused for lunch at Linear Park, hoping the hundreds with them out. But log show shouting matches and delays. Manari straight up admitted they lacked enough cops to clear a sterile zone for a high-risk kit search. He owned up to regrets, saying his thorough check failed to find Noah Sooner and if Intel like nearby CCTV footage or the culvert being title had hit. Earlier, the whole strategy shifts to rescue mode with divers right away. The title info didn't flow till later, changing plans only on June 26th. This testimony paints a picture of misurgency in those critical days, leaving more questions as the inquest rolls on, pushing for answers on what, really went down.