A teenager was reported to have fallen off his bicycle and was observed removing his clothes in public on the day he disappeared, according to testimony presented at an inquest.
Noah Donohoe, aged 14, was eventually discovered deceased in a drainage system in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after departing from home on his bike to meet friends in the Cavehill region of the Northern Ireland capital. Initial police assumptions suggested he had sustained a head injury just before his demise. However, a witness who saw Noah fall from his bike contradicted this theory during the inquest proceedings.
Amanda Seenan, the witness, stated that she did not witness Noah sustaining any head injury during the fall, which she described as significant. She expressed surprise that reports suggested Noah may have been injured, as she had not communicated this to the police.
During the hearing at Belfast Coroner’s Court, Noah’s mother’s counsel, Brenda Campbell KC, presented a Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) press release from the time of Noah’s disappearance, which mentioned a witness observing him fall off his bicycle and potentially injure his head.
Ms. Seenan recounted that while driving with her infant daughter on the evening of June 21, 2020, she spotted a male cyclist ahead on North Queen Street in Belfast. She described how the cyclist fell off his bike near a bus layby but quickly got back on and rode away.
She clarified that although the fall was significant, she did not witness Noah hitting his head. Ms. Seenan reiterated that she had no reason to believe he had suffered a head injury and was bewildered by the reports suggesting otherwise.
Another witness, Sinead Quinn, reported seeing a young male lifting a fallen bike off the road at the junction of North Queen Street and Alexandra Park Avenue. She observed the youth cycling away towards the Shore Road without witnessing him fall.
Ms. Quinn noted that the youth left his jacket on the road, and when she tried to alert him by honking, he seemed startled but continued cycling without picking up the jacket.
The ongoing inquest, now in its second week, is still gathering evidence and testimony.
