Noah's mental health considered in investigation, says officer

Concerns about Noah Donohoe's mental health were among the issues being considered by police during the early stages of the investigation into his disappearance, an inquest has heard.

The body of the Belfast schoolboy was found in a water tunnel almost a week after he went missing on 21 June 2020.

Det Sgt Stephen Gardiner took responsibility for co-ordinating the collection of CCTV footage when the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took charge three days after Noah went missing.

Gardiner told the inquest he established the detection of CCTV footage in the area around Noah's last sighting as a "priority line of inquiry" that was being treated with urgency.

At the beginning of Gardiner's evidence, the inquest was shown a nine-minute compilation of Noah's final journey from his home towards his last known destination.

The compilation, which was taken from three hours and 45 minutes of CCTV footage, showed Noah leaving his home off the Lower Ormeau Road on his final journey.

He initially brought his bicycle through the door of his family home and then cycled down the street towards the main road before making his way into the city centre and onwards via Royal Avenue to north Belfast.

The final part of the footage captured the 14-year-old cycling naked towards the end of his journey.

The schoolboy's mother, Fiona, left the hearing just before the footage was played and returned when it ended.

Gardiner said the investigating team wanted to gather information which might help to explain the circumstances in which Noah parted with his backpack, phone and clothing.

He added that investigators were anxious to establish "any relevant event" that may have explained what happened as the schoolboy cycled along the final stages of the route before he disappeared.

Therefore, Gardiner said the investigation was already being assisted at that stage by footage of Noah's journey "scattered throughout the city" with the hope that it would lead police to him.

He also said the police were aware of a number of pieces of information at the time, including the possibility that Noah may have sustained a head injury as a result of falling from his bicycle, as well as details from the initial call made by the missing boy's mother.

The inquest has previously heard details of the 999 call from Fiona Donohoe, made on the night of his disappearance, in which she expressed concerns she had about her son's mental health in the days before he went missing.

Gardiner was also asked by a barrister for Fiona Donohoe if he was made aware of police considerations at the time about the "possible presence of drugs" or "mood altering substances" by way of trying to explain why Noah had acted "out of character" before his disappearance.

He replied: "It was part of the conversations that I had".

Gardiner was also questioned extensively about processes and procedures around the compilation and checking of CCTV footage as well as the timing of police actions involving CCTV footage.

This was in response to inquiries around Noah's missing coat and other elements of the investigation.

Despite his leading role in the collection of the CCTV footage, Gardiner said he was not aware of CCTV footage being available from the back of a house, at Northwood Road close to where Noah disappeared, until it was reported in the media during the inquest.

He added that the CCTV footage they had collected at the time didn't indicate "any third-party involvement" in the boy's disappearance.

The inquest also heard from a former chief superintendent in the PSNI, who said he indicated that foul play was not a factor in the investigation into Noah's death in response to "baseless rumours".

Robert Muir Clark, who has since left the PSNI and is the commissioner for police on the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean, gave evidence to the inquest by video link.

He confirmed that he outlined during press briefings at the time of Noah's disappearance how it was believed the schoolboy may have suffered trauma and become disorientated after falling from his bicycle and possibly hitting his head on the day of his disappearance.

He said he had since become aware of concerns raised on behalf of Noah's next of kin over those comments, but said he believed his comments were "reasonable" based on the information available at the time, including that the schoolboy became parted from his possessions and clothing and being naked when he disappeared.

He also said he was made aware of additional next of kin concerns about comments he made in which he indicated that police did not believe there was foul play.

The witness said he believed his comments were "an accurate reflection of the state of affairs at that time."

He explained that he believed it was important to make the statement because of what he described as "baseless rumours" suggesting there had been foul play.

He explained he felt it was important to outline the "current state" of the police investigation at the time.

A barrister for Fiona Donohoe told Clark that two witnesses who observed Noah falling from his bicycle made no reference to Noah sustaining a head injury.

Clark explained to the inquest that he was not part of the actual investigation at the time and his role was as "a conduit between the investigation and the public".

He said it was a hypothesis that Noah may have fallen off his bicycle and sustained a possible head injury.

The barrister for Fiona Donohoe pointed out that his "majoring" on this single hypothesis during press briefings did not reflect that other events which could have impacted on Noah's behaviour had happened before he fell from his bicycle.

The witness said: "I didn't feel it was unreasonable".

A barrister for the PSNI asked the witness if he believed Noah's discarding of clothing, culminating in him becoming naked after his fall was relevant to the police hypothesis about a possible head injury.

Clark replied: "Yes, I did."