Jury visits area where Noah Donohoe was last seen alive

The 11 members of the jury at the Noah Donohoe inquest have visited the area in north Belfast where the schoolboy was last seen alive.

The body of the 14-year-old was found in an underground water tunnel almost a week after he went missing in June 2020.

The jury and the coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, travelled to Linear Park off the Shore Road on Monday morning.

Linear Park runs along one side of a culvert, which is close to where Noah was last seen before he vanished.

The two areas are separated by a tall steel protective fence.

The view from Linear Park shows the proximity of the culvert to nearby houses in Northwood Road.

Noah abandoned his bicycle on a footpath in Northwood Road before he disappeared behind the houses towards waste ground and the culvert entrance.

Residents noticed that Noah was not wearing any clothing at the time.

Following the visit to Linear Park, the jury moved to the perimeter of the Seaview football stadium where they were shown a manhole which is part of the tunnel network at the centre of the boy's disappearance.

The group then travelled to the grounds of a Translink depot, alongside the M2, close to where Noah's body was found in the underground tunnel.

His body was recovered more than 600 metres downstream from where he is believed to have entered the culvert inlet between Northwood Road and Linear Park.

The jury was also brought along most of the route travelled by Noah on his way from his home at Fitzroy Avenue in south Belfast, through the city centre, to his last known destination in Northwood Road in the north of the city.