Schoolboy's mental health considered in investigation, says officer

Concerns about Noah Donohoe's mental health were among the issues being considered by police during the early stages of the investigation into his disappearance, an inquest has heard.

The body of the Belfast schoolboy was found in a water tunnel almost a week after he went missing on 21 June 2020.

Det Sgt Stephen Gardiner took responsibility for co-ordinating the collection of CCTV footage when the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took charge three days after Noah went missing.

Gardiner told the inquest he established the detection of CCTV footage in the area around Noah's last sighting as a "priority line of inquiry" that was being treated with urgency.

At the beginning of Gardiner's evidence, the inquest was shown a nine-minute compilation of Noah's final journey from his home towards his last known destination.

The compilation, which was taken from three hours and 45 minutes of CCTV footage, showed Noah leaving his home off the Lower Ormeau Road on his final journey.

He initially brought his bicycle through the door of his family home and then cycled down the street towards the main road before making his way into the city centre and onwards via Royal Avenue to north Belfast.

The final part of the footage captured the 14-year-old cycling naked towards the end of his journey.

The schoolboy's mother, Fiona, left the hearing just before the footage was played and returned when it ended.

Gardiner said the investigating team wanted to gather information which might help to explain the circumstances in which Noah parted with his backpack, phone and clothing.

He added that investigators were anxious to establish "any relevant event" that may have explained what happened as the schoolboy cycled along the final stages of the route before he disappeared.

Therefore, Gardiner said the investigation was already being assisted at that stage by footage of Noah's journey "scattered throughout the city" with the hope that it would lead police to him.

He also said the police were aware of a number of pieces of information at the time, including the possibility that Noah may have sustained a head injury as a result of falling from his bicycle, as well as details from the initial call made by the missing boy's mother.

The inquest has previously heard details of the 999 call from Fiona Donohoe, made on the night of his disappearance, in which she expressed concerns she had about her son's mental health in the days before he went missing.

Gardiner was also asked by a barrister for Fiona Donohoe if he was made aware of police considerations at the time about the "possible presence of drugs" or "mood altering substances" by way of trying to explain why Noah had acted "out of character" before his disappearance.

He replied: "It was part of the conversations that I had".

Gardiner was also questioned extensively about processes and procedures around the compilation and checking of CCTV footage as well as the timing of police actions involving CCTV footage.

This was in response to inquiries around Noah's missing coat and other elements of the investigation.

Despite his leading role in the collection of the CCTV footage, Gardiner said he was not aware of CCTV footage being available from the back of a house, at Northwood Road close to where Noah disappeared, until it was reported in the media during the inquest.

He added that the CCTV footage they had collected at the time didn't indicate "any third-party involvement" in the boy's disappearance.