The second week of the inquest heard from Noah’s closest friends and eyewitnesses from the day he went missing
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Cave Hill and bike fall: what we learned from the second week of the Noah Donohoe inquest
The second week in the inquest into the death of teenager Noah Donohoe heard evidence from two of the schoolboy’s closest friends as well as numerous eyewitnesses from the day he disappeared.
On Monday and Tuesday, the inquest heard from two of Noah’s closest friends – Jay Tierney and Charlie Rocks. They remembered him as an intelligent and funny person who was planning for his future.
Both of them described him as “eccentric”, however Mr Tierney clarified that this was “not in a bad way” and that he was “inquisitive”.
The two friends recalled how they had become closer with Noah during lockdown and said that he, like most people, had down days during the pandemic. However, they said that overall he was positive and they did not have concerns for his mental health. They said the friend group had a “mutual understanding that they could tell each other anything”.
Mr Rocks recalled Noah telling him that he “wanted to change and be more open” and said that he was going through “a transitional period in his mental health” by being more open about his feelings, but that it was something that “everyone goes through”, including himself.
On the day Noah went missing, he told his mum that he was heading to go up Cave Hill with his two friends.
A message exchange with Mr Tierney showed that Noah asked if their Cave Hill trip was still on June 21, 2020. Mr Tierney was seen replying “no can do today” due to the weather at around 5.40pm. However, this was around the time that Noah was setting off to head to Cave Hill. He told the inquest that Noah hadn’t read those messages.
Mr Rocks said that he accepted it was “not entirely clear” that the plans were called off in the group chat, but that he had understood that it was not happening.
“It’s possible that he thought the plans were still on,” he said. But he added that “it would surprise [him] if he were to go there on his own.”
The inquest was told that Noah’s last two Google searches were for Cave Hill.
The inquest heard from witnesses who saw Noah on North Queen Street the day he went missing. Some of the witnesses recalled seeing him on the ground after an apparent fall near the junction with York Road and that he left his jacket behind on the road.
One witness, Nathan Montgomery, passed Noah in his car while he was cycling on North Queen Street. He told the inquest that he recalled him swaying slightly on the bike while driving behind him and that he thought he looked a bit “unsteady”.
“There was no concern on my part. I did not think there was anything particularly wrong,” he said.
Another witness, Amanda Seenan, recalled seeing Noah fall while riding his bike on North Queen Street as he approached the junction with York Road.
She said she saw him “brush” his leg “just as he got back onto his bike” after he fell.
“I didn’t see him touch anywhere else,” she said.
“As soon as he was down, he was up again.
She recalled seeing him fall forward and thought he might have fallen over the handlebars of the bike. Ms Seenan said she did not notice any injuries and didn’t see him hit his head.
However, she said that when she later heard in the news about the possible head injury she “was a bit confused about where that had come from”.
She confirmed that she had felt “a bit miffed” and wondered if it had come from her saying it or someone else saying it.
Log notes from a senior investigating officer on June 24, 2020, were then shown to the inquest which noted that the head injury hypothesis was based off the witness’ evidence.
“I didn’t believe he had a head injury,” she told the inquest.
Other witnesses in the second week recalled seeing Noah or his belongings around the Northwood Road area – the final location where he was seen alive.
House-to-house questionnaires filled out by police making enquiries in the area after his disappearance also revealed that a witness saw Noah take his top off and leave it on a wall, another saw Noah standing for a rest in the street, while another said they heard three noises in the early hours of the morning.
Residents were asked about their knowledge of access to the storm drain, while one witness, who was on the street that day at her partner’s house, recalled seeing a man cycle past the window “totally naked”.
She described how at first, she thought it might have been a “prank” and that when she went out onto the street around five or ten minutes later, she saw grey shorts and white boxers on the pavement of the street and, a few doors door down, a jumper on the wall and a pair of trainers on the pavement.
Another witness recalled finding an abandoned bike at the end of her driveway.
Week three of the inquest starts on Monday, February 2.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
