New book on Noah is referred to the Attorney General by coroner
A NEW book about Noah Donohoe has been referred to the Attorney General by the coroner overseeing an inquest into the teenager’s death.
The development emerged at a pre-inquest review hearing yesterday.
The Belfast schoolboy went missing on June 21 last year. His body was found in a storm drain in the north of the city six days later following a massive search operation.
A post-mortem examination established that the St Malachy’s College student died as a result of drowning and a coroner’s hearing was later told there was no evidence that he was attacked or that anyone else was involved.
Noah’s mother, Fiona Donohoe, who has called for a full investigation into her son’s disappearance and death, said the publication of The Noah Donohoe Scandal by Donal Lavery “trespasses on her grief”, her solicitor, Niall Murphy said.
“And she considers it to be very unhelpful in the context of the truth recovery and notes that it must be completely devoid of any specific facts that may emerge at an inquest,” he told the hearing.
“The publication of the book is an abuse of the court’s previous direction.”
Coroner Joe Mccrisken said that he became aware of the book just days ago but was not aware of its contents.
“Quite rightly I haven’t had sight of the publication but I was made aware of it on Friday of last week and I’ve referred the matter to the Attorney [General Brenda King] under the statutory responsibility,” he said.
“Everyone should be aware now that the only person who is in possession of all of the facts is me, and the investigating officer.
“I have all of the forensics, statements... none of that information has yet been made available to next of kin, let alone any other individual.”
The review also heard that the PSNI is investigating a line of inquiry that Noah may have been assaulted in the city centre as he travelled on his bike on the day of his disappearance.
Mr Murphy told the hearing, held at Belfast Coroner’s Court, that he was appealing to any businesses along Royal Avenue and North Street to examine their CCTV footage.
“We have reason to believe that there is particular and specific knowledge of this assault in the homeless community and with those struggling with addiction issues in the city centre and also people who may have been resident at the Queen’s Quarter Housing Association in University Street,” he explained.
Mr Mccrisken explained that the development came from an individual who presented her account to police, which was recorded by her solicitor and “police have an obligation to enquire into that account”.
“Some of what was initially told to police has been clarified but inquiries are ongoing,” he revealed.
Mr Lavery had previously said his book was based on information in the public domain and on facts.
He added that he informed the family of his intention to write the book, and had received legal correspondence from the Donohoe family asking for it to be removed from sale.
“The substance of the book should be the focus and not the author. If there are any serious inaccuracies I would invite people to clarify them, but throughout I have provided information that is easily accessible online to the reader and which anyone could obtain if they look for it,” he added.
The full inquest is set to be held on January 10, 2022.
However, the coroner heard that the impact of the Covid-19 crisis had resulted in a backlog in other inquests being held, which had put pressure on courtroom availability.
As such, he stressed that a final decision on the date would be made later this year.