Noah Donohoe: Daryl Paul jailed for stealing schoolboy's laptop

A man who tried to pawn a laptop owned by Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe, while a major search for the teenager was ongoing, has been jailed for theft.

Daryl Paul pleaded guilty to stealing a rucksack containing Noah's laptop and schoolbooks, after finding it on the day the boy went missing.

The 33-year-old, of Cliftonville Avenue Belfast, was jailed for three months.

Paul's lawyer said his client had no personal contact with Noah at any stage and said the theft was "opportunistic".

Noah Donohoe, who was 14, went missing after leaving his home on a bike ride last June, and his disappearance sparked a major search operation in north Belfast.

The schoolboy's body was recovered from a storm drain six days later, and a subsequent post-mortem examination found that he died as a result of drowning.

Daryl Paul has 194 previous convictions, including 52 for theft - a record the judge described as "horrendous".

However, he stressed there was no link between Paul and the schoolboy's death.

"There is no overlap between this accused and the terrible tragedy that befell poor Noah," the judge said.

The theft case at Belfast Magistrates' Court heard that three days after Noah went missing, a man and woman went into a Cash Converters store and attempted to sell the teenager's laptop.

Staff at the shop refused to buy the computer and alerted police.

Paul was later identified on CCTV footage.

He told police he found the laptop propped up against a wall near Ulster University buildings in the city centre.

He took it home but was unable to turn it on.

Paul also told police he did not look in detail at books inside the bag.

"He said he didn't know the bag belonged to the missing boy Noah, and if he had known that he would have returned it immediately," a prosecution lawyer told the court.

"He said that he did make some positive efforts to unite the bag and contents with its owner, and he was planning to try and return it at some stage."

A defence barrister told the court that the police accept there was "no personal overlap" between his client and Noah.

"This is just an opportunistic, dishonest person finding a rucksack and treating it as his own," he said.

He added that his client later provided information to police which led to officers recovering the laptop.

"He couldn't have been more cooperative and helpful in moving the police investigation along," the defence barrister said.

However, during the high-profile investigation, Paul has faced threats and been "vilified" on social media, the court heard.

The judge was also told that Paul led a chaotic lifestyle, and drink and drug abuse had left him needing medical treatment for hepatitis.

Sentencing Paul to three months in jail, the judge made it clear that no penalty was being imposed for who the stolen items belonged to.