Noah Donohoe Inquest: Search Efforts Hampered by Crowd and Inaccurate Maps

An inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe has revealed that police search efforts were delayed by a large and, at times, hostile crowd, as well as discrepancies between provided maps of the Belfast storm drain system and the actual layout of the tunnels.

Crowd Interference and Initial Response

Retired police inspector Menary, who previously managed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) hazardous environment search (HES) team, testified that on March 24, 2020 – three days after Noah Donohoe went missing – he encountered “hundreds of local residents in quite an agitated state” at Northwood Linear Park in north Belfast. The crowd numbered up to 400 people, most of whom were well-meaning, but some were “behaving in a hostile fashion,” making it impossible to start a search of the storm drain tunnel system until the park was cleared. BBC News

Challenges with Tunnel Maps

Menary stated that the schematics provided by the Department for Infrastructure regarding the water network system “did not match what we were finding on the ground.” Several entry points to the storm drain tunnels were not located, having been landscaped or covered over during recent park improvements. BBC News

Search Conditions and Equipment

The HES team initially deployed cameras into the tunnels, but Menary himself had to enter due to obstructions. By June 24th, the team had determined that Noah was not in the non-tidal section of the tunnel that had been searched. During the search, Noah’s name was called out within the tunnel, but there was no response. The search was suspended on Thursday due to rising tides, nearly reaching the location where Noah was ultimately found. BBC News

Menary testified that he believed the tunnels would have been a “very challenging place to survive if you were naked.” He also clarified that at that stage, the search was focused on finding evidence that Noah had been in the tunnel, rather than a rescue operation. BBC News

The team did not have access to a drone capable of underground deployment at the time, but Menary stated he did not believe they had an equipment deficit or that the search would have been improved with different equipment. BBC News

Initial Search for Evidence

The HES team was initially tasked with searching for any items belonging to Noah, including clothing, books, or a laptop, after being informed he had entered the park but was not seen leaving. At that point, police were unaware of reports that Noah had been naked. RTE

Background

Noah Donohoe, a 14-year-old student at St Malachy’s College, disappeared on June 21, 2020, after leaving his home on his bike. His body was discovered six days later in a storm drain in north Belfast. A post-mortem examination determined the cause of death was drowning. Wikipedia