Noah Donohoe Inquest: Police Search Efforts Unveiled

0:00On March 23rd, an inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donahoe has heard how police quickly ramped up their search efforts after he vanished in North Belfast back in June 2020. The schoolboy from St. Malachai's College left home when his bike to meet friends, but never made it, and his naked body turned up six days later in a stormed drain tunnel. A post-mortem pointed to drowning as the likely cause. The hearing, now in its ninth week with a jury, picked up with testimony from a key officer involved in the early stages. He explained stepping in as duty sergeant to coordinate the response right away, pulling from a standard missing person template, but adding steps. Specific to Noah's case, police recognized the high risk almost immediately and dedicated a large number of officers to the hunt. One sergeant focused solely on this while others handled routine calls, with constant updates to be at emails and phone logs showing full commitment from the start. The officer described checking areas like Northwood Road, reviewing mobile phone CCTV that

1:04captured a youth cycling naked nearby and overnight air. Support sweeps over Cave Hill, though plans to meet friends there, had fallen through with no firm leads pointing there. As the inquest presses on, these details shed light on the intense early push to find Noah, seeing families and communities still seeking full answers.