Hostile behaviour encountered during Noah Donohoe search, inquest told

A search of a local park for Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe was delayed because of "hostile" behaviour by some members of the public, an inquest has heard.

Noah's naked body was found in a storm drain tunnel a week after he went missing in June 2020.

A former police inspector has told the inquest into his death that he was part of a hazardous environment team which began searching the underground tunnel three days after the 14-year-old's disappearance.

Former PSNI Insp Philip Menary said the specialised team encountered multiple problems during the initial search of the tunnel, including stone and metal obstructions as well as silt and toxins.

Menary said the underground search was part of an overall search operation which included searches of the nearby Linear Park and Cave Hill.

He said the search of Linear Park, close to the neighbourhood where Noah went missing, was hampered by a large number of people who were there trying to help in the ongoing search operation.

However, he explained that the search could not proceed at one point because of the size of the crowd, "some of whom were behaving in a hostile fashion".

He pointed out that most of the people at the scene were motivated to help in the search for the missing boy.

Menary said none of the obstructions the specialist team found in the tunnel would have prevented someone from getting through that part of the tunnel.

He said it was "a very challenging environment to navigate" and was "very cold".

Menary added: "I believe it would be a very difficult place to survive if you were naked."

He said the initial search was focused on the upstream, non-tidal part of the tunnel and the team called out "Noah" and "police" while they conducted their searches underground.

He said the search of the downstream section of the underground tunnel, including where the boy's body was eventually found, was hampered by daily tidal flows from Belfast Lough.

The inquest heard how the tunnel ran underneath part of the Seaview football grounds going towards Belfast Lough.

The inquest has also been shown filmed footage from inside the tunnel, a short distance from where Noah disappeared.

Menary, whose was part of the PSNI's Tactical Support Group, gave details of how his team used a specialised camera which was guided by a computer operated from above ground.

He said the camera had the capacity to spin around and move up and down to inspect as many areas of the tunnel as possible.

The inquest was shown footage from a preliminary inspection when a camera was sent 16 metres along the inside of the tunnel from a manhole in Linear Park, not far from the culvert entrance in the area where Noah was seen before he disappeared.

The witness described how the inside of the tunnel was "completely black".

He explained that the tunnel was quite wide and stretched his arms at full length to illustrate the size of the tunnel.

Asked if it was big enough for a person to get through, he replied, "Yes, that's correct".

He went on to explain that someone could do so "cropped over".

Menary, who was the first member of the team to go into the tunnel, also described how he had to crawl along parts of the inside of the tunnel when he entered the system.

He also outlined details of dangers his team had to consider in what he described as a potentially "explosive environment".

He explained that "pockets of gas" can develop in silt as a result of a build-up of debris including dead animals, branches, rotting material, and other materials.

During his evidence to the inquest, the witness returned to the issue around a "quite hostile" response from some members of a large crowd in Linear Park when his team arrived to begin their operations.

He said the police were aware of speculation and rumours on social media about the alleged involvement of paramilitaries and paedophiles and other "nefarious' people in Noah's disappearance.

He said there were about 300 to 400 people in the park at the time and many of them were frustrated and he detected "anti-police" feeling among a portion of the crowd.

The witness said officers were questioned about what they were doing there as well as being told to "get out of here".

He said there were people in the crowd who wanted to search for the missing boy while others were shouting at police and telling officers: "You know what's going on, you know where this person is".

He also explained that members of the public were arguing with local residents and that one person used an angle grinder to cut a lock on a heavy metal gate between Linear Park and the entrance to the culvert.

He said the size of the crowd and the reaction of some of those present represented a serious health and safety risk and his team had to suspend their plans for a short time to allow local representatives and local police officers to encourage the crowd to leave the area.