A photograph which appears to show a hand may have been taken on Noah Donohoe’s mobile phone in the hours after the teenager went missing in Belfast, a court has heard.
A barrister for Noah’s mother Fiona Donohoe told an inquest hearing that an expert had discovered the image and it raised the prospect that the phone had been in the possession of someone else.
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Brenda Campbell KC said the issue was of such importance that she wanted “urgent responses” from the PSNI on whether it agreed that the photograph had been taken on the evening of Noah’s disappearance and if the force had previous knowledge of the image.
Noah, 14, was found dead in a storm drain in the city in June 2020 – six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet up with friends.
His mother Fiona Donohoe is hoping to secure answers to some of the questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process.
The inquest was originally scheduled to take place last year but was then delayed after a ruling that it should proceed with a jury, following an application from Ms Donohoe.
The original coroner, Joe McCrisken, has since recused himself from the case, and Wednesday’s hearing was the first in the long-running proceedings since a new coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, was appointed.
Ms Donohoe was in attendance for the latest hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.
The court was told that a provisional date for the inquest has been set for February 3 next year. It has previously been stated the proceedings could last up to six weeks.
During the lengthy review hearing, counsel for the coroner Peter Coll KC updated the court on a number of issues relating to the disclosure process and preparation of expert reports ahead of the full inquest.
Ms Campbell, representing Ms Donohoe, urged the court to hold regular reviews of the case.
Regarding disclosure of information, she told the court that the next-of-kin was still waiting to access “call data records” from the PSNI from Noah’s phone so that their expert can complete a report.
However, she said that during a review of a download of material from the phone, the expert had identified a photograph of what “appears to be a palm or a portion of a hand”.
She said: “A type of photograph that might inadvertently be taken by a telephone that has been picked up or held in a hand.
“The significance of it is that the expert instructs it was taken at 10 to seven on the evening of Noah’s disappearance.
“We have asked the expert to check and to double check that time. But if it was taken at 18:50, that raises the prospect that Noah’s phone was in someone’s hand at that time.
“Based on what we know of Noah’s movements and his disappearance about 40 minutes previously in the area of Northwood Crescent, a strong inference would be that it wasn’t Noah’s hand. It was not Noah.”
The barrister said she wanted to raise a number of questions for the PSNI around the photograph.
She said: “What we ask is does the PSNI agree that there is a photograph on Noah’s phone that was taken at 18:50 on 21st June 2020?
“And if so, did they know about it and for how long have they known about it? And what was done about it?
“And who was in possession of Noah’s phone at that time and on that date?
“If the answer is no, they didn’t know about it, then why not?”
Ms Campbell continued: “It is of such importance that we bring it directly to the attention of the court and we ask for urgent responses in relation to it.”
Representing the PSNI, barrister Donal Lunny KC said there was quite a lot of information related to telecommunications which needed to be assessed for relevancy and potential redactions.
He said he had received submissions from Ms Campbell about the image after close of business the previous evening.
He said: “I have had very limited time in which to attempt to seek instructions.
“I obviously will and we will communicate with the next-of-kin and the coroner’s service about that issue.”
Ms Campbell also raised the issue of access to samples which would allow toxicology reports to be carried out.
She said: “The issue of Noah’s disappearance and death has been blurred by rumour and suspicion. Some of that suspicion focuses on drugs.
“It is a matter which causes Noah’s mother a great degree of concern.
“What she is concerned about is getting as many answers as possible, no matter how painful those answers are.
“As long as she has answers then that provides some comfort.
“If the answers serve only to put issues to bed, then they will have served a very important process as far as understanding what happened to Noah.”
Ms Campbell added that the February 2025 date for the full inquest was “not fixed in stone”.
She said: “It has been repeated by me on behalf of Fiona Donohoe on many occasions, what she is concerned about is having a full and fearless inquest when it is ready.
“There is a significant amount of work to be done before it is ready.”
The coroner said he would review the case again on November 14.
