Fourteen-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in June 2020 six days after setting off from home on his bike
Six years after Noah Donohoe’s bike ride across Belfast ended in a tragedy that mystified Northern Ireland, an inquest is seeking answers.
Opening statements at Belfast coroner’s court on Thursday marked the formal start of an attempt to fathom what happened to the 14-year-old schoolboy, who left his home on 21 June 2020 and was found six days later dead in a storm drain.
In a video interview played in court, his mother, Fiona Donohoe, said she became afraid when Noah did not answer his mobile phone. “My instinct told me something wasn’t right. I was concerned that Noah had been a bit down and more emotional than usual,” she said.
Before he left home she had found him crying in his room. “I asked him why he was crying. He turned to me and said he was laughing,” Donohoe said.
