Officer recalls chat with Noah Donohoe's mother on night of disappearance

The first police officer who met Noah Donohoe's mother after she reported him missing has described how he investigated a "high-risk" missing persons case.

Sgt David Murphy told an inquest into the schoolboy's death that he visited the family home on the night of Noah's disappearance in June 2020 and his mother, Fiona Donohoe, described her son as having been "very emotional" during the week before.

Murphy noted how Fiona Donohoe described how her son had been acting "strange".

He said she told him that her son had been "hugging and kissing" her a lot and telling her that "he loves her a lot."

The body of the 14-year-old was found in a storm drain in north Belfast on 27 June 2020, six days after he went missing.

A post-mortem examination found his death was due to drowning.

The witness said Noah's mother told him on the night her son went missing that his disappearance was "totally out of character" and he would normally be home long before 22:00 BST.

He also referred to Fiona Donohoe telling him that her son had a book with him about living life in a different way.

The inquest has previously heard that the book was 12 Rules for Life by the author Jordan Peterson.

The witness said a search of the family home, including Noah's bedroom, did not reveal anything to suggest that he did not intend to return home.

Murphy also said Noah had never come to the attention of the police previously and there was nothing to suggest he had ever made any reference to self harm.

'Phone screen was damaged'

The witness also explained that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) investigation was initially treated as a "medium-risk" case before being upgraded to a "high-risk" case.

The police officer was questioned by a barrister for Noah's mother about the precise details he recorded in his notebook during his initial inquiries at the Donohoe family home.

The witness said he was "quite content with my actions".

When he was asked if Noah's mother had used the word "strange" to describe her son's behaviour, Murphy said he wouldn't have used it "if it wasn't said".

He also agreed that his inquiries led him to believe Noah had no mental health issues and was not on any medication.

Earlier, a woman who found Noah's phone the day after he went missing told the inquest that she found the device inside railings and close to the road in Castleton Park in north Belfast.

Adelaide Armstrong said the phone screen was damaged, and she thought the device was out of charge, so she and her husband brought it home to charge it in an effort to contact the owner.

She subsequently saw a message on the device from the police asking anyone who found the phone to contact them.

The witness told a barrister for Noah's mother that she also noticed missed calls from "Mum" on the phone.

Inquest hears of Noah's Google searches

Another police officer, constable David Budden, told the inquest later on Tuesday that he also met Fiona Donohoe during the early stages of the investigation into her son's disappearance.

He said she told him that she was concerned Noah might have harmed himself, but there was nothing to suggest that he was thinking about self-harm.

He also recalled how she told him her son had been "in a low mood" and was "very weepy" in the time before he disappeared.

The witness, who was the single PSNI point of contact with Fiona Donohoe the day after Noah's disappearance, also said she was concerned that he may have been bullied because she discovered the word 'gay' written in different handwriting on his school homework diary.

Constable Budden said the young boy's mother also informed him that Noah had been captivated by the book 12 Rules for Life by author Jordan Peterson, and that she was worried about the content of the book and that it might have affected her son.

The inquest also heard constable Budden became aware of Google searches performed by Noah prior to his disappearance, relating to biblical locations and references, as well as a search about Cavehill on the day of his disappearance.

The witness agreed that he was aware, while in the family home, that Noah was interested in books and was "very smart".

When he was questioned about the descriptions and quotations he used to explain what Fiona Donohoe had told him during their conversations, he said he believed they were accurate descriptions of what he had been told by the missing boy's mother at the time.

He accepted that he didn't record detailed notes in his police notebook about the precise details of his conversations with Fiona Donohoe at the time, but he subsequently recorded them in a police system.

The inquest has also been shown CCTV images of Noah Donohoe cycling alone along Royal Avenue in Belfast city centre and onwards to north Belfast on the day he went missing.

The book 12 Rules for Life has been popular with some teenage boys, but some people view its contents as controversial.

The author is widely considered to reflect a traditional or conservative standpoint.

The inquest continues.