Confusion over Noah Donohoe's coat stalls inquest

The Noah Donohoe inquest was adjourned for a time on Thursday, following a "serious matter" in relation to the evidence of a police witness.

PC Wharry was part of a police team involved in the search of the north Belfast flat of Daryl Paul, who was subsequently jailed for stealing Noah's laptop.

The search was conducted while Noah was still missing in June 2020.

The issue which arose at the inquest on Thursday related to a missing green coat belonging to the schoolboy.

The coat, which Noah had been wearing shortly before his disappearance, has never been found.

Wharry told the inquest that he was tasked with searching the flat because it was believed that Paul was in possession of Noah's green coat, laptop, and schoolbag.

He also claimed he was briefed about these three items by the PSNI's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) before the search of the flat on 25 June 2020, four days after Noah disappeared.

However, the inquest heard that Wharry never mentioned the green coat in his notes from the time or the two statements he presented to the inquest.

The witness then told the inquest that he only became aware of the green coat on Thursday.

Wharry said he was briefed about it by a PSNI team at Musgrave police station before "coming over today for court".

Referring to what he recalled about the search at Paul's flat in 2020, the witness stated: "I don't believe we were told about the green coat".

He was challenged by a barrister representing Fiona Donohoe, Noah's mother, who asked him why he had "repeatedly" told the hearing that he was briefed about the coat before the search of Paul's flat.

The witness remained silent before the barrister asked him if he was able to answer the question.

Wharry replied, "I'm not, no".

The barrister then addressed the coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, saying she was at a loss in terms of how to proceed because the witness was under oath.

"This is a serious matter," she said.

Rooney then granted a short adjournment of the inquest to allow legal teams to consider the matter.

When Wharry returned to the inquest, he told the coroner and jury that he was briefed by two people at Musgrave police station, one of them was a higher ranked police officer and the briefing was in relation to the court "running order" because he had not been on the witness stand previously.

The coroner ruled that no further questions could be asked about Noah's green coat until he had an opportunity to read the transcript of the earlier evidence.

Wharry was also questioned about his evidence in relation to body-worn police cameras during the search at Paul's flat.

The inquest heard that a statement written by Wharry on the night of the search at the flat, noted that he found schoolbooks belonging to Noah Donohoe in a rubbish bag in the flat, which was "captured on body-worn video".

However, in a second statement more than two years later, he explained that he wasn't sure.

The witness explained that his view was that "someone else" may have captured the search on a body-worn camera.

The inquest also heard that another police officer observed a rucksack "beside clothing" on the floor of Paul's flat, as well as a St Paul's Missionary Journey school sheet and a book.

The hearing was told that Noah's family were anxious to see body-worn footage of the search to see if it might provide any specific information about the clothing in the flat.

No footage has been available to the inquest.

Wharry explained to the inquest that he was deployed to assist in the arrest of Paul and he would only switch on his body-worn camera if there was someone in the house. Paul was not there at the time.

He also said the rules at the time allowed for discretion around the use of the police body-worn cameras but the guidance has since changed.

Paul was subsequently jailed after pleading guilty to stealing a rucksack containing Noah's laptop and schoolbooks after finding the bag in north Belfast later that evening.

During that court case, Paul's lawyer said his client had no personal contact with Noah at any stage and the theft was "opportunistic".

The court hearing at the time was also told that the case was not connected to any other issue relating to the disappearance and death of Noah Donohoe.

During previous evidence at the inquest, CCTV footage showed Noah cycling along University Street towards the lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast at the beginning of his final journey across the city.

The footage revealed that Paul was standing outside Queen's Quarter housing along University Street as Noah cycled past shortly after the schoolboy left his home.

A barrister for Paul has previously told the coroner and the jury that there was no physical interaction between his client and Noah.

He also explained that Paul was later captured on CCTV in Botanic Avenue, also in south Belfast, shortly after Noah's last known sighting, meaning that he could not have had any contact with the schoolboy around the time of his disappearance.

At the time, a barrister for Fiona Donohoe said this matter was not in dispute and was not being contested.