Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LEAVE NOAH’S FAMILY IN PEACE
Social media trolls told to stop posting ‘inaccurate’ comments on teen’s death
THE man leading the inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe yesterday begged for the teen’s family to be left in peace.
At a preliminary hearing attended by the boy’s mum Fiona, Coroner Joe Mccrisken branded social media commentary about the tragedy as “inaccurate, baseless” and potentially criminal.
The body of 14-year-old Noah was found in a storm drain in North Belfast last month.
A PRELIMINARY hearing for the inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe heard a direct appeal for residents in the area where the teen went missing to check their CCTV.
The schoolboy’s mother Fiona and aunt Niamh attended court in Belfast yesterday. A full inquest is due to be heard on January 18 next year.
The family were represented by KRW Law’s Niall Murphy and Andree Murphy from Relatives For Justice.
A coroner investigating the death of the St Malachy’s College pupil demanded an end to online speculation and added there is no evidence his passing was linked to any other fatalities.
Joe Mccrisken branded some of the social media commentary about Noah’s death as “inaccurate, baseless” and potentially criminal.
The teenager’s remains were found in a storm drain near the M2 motorway last month, six days after he went missing.
Police believe he entered it in the Northwood Road in North Belfast.
Noah had cycled to the area from his home in South Belfast. Shortly before he went missing he was spotted with no clothes on.
Prior to that the schoolboy had been seen falling off his bike on Shore Road.
His disappearance prompted a major search operation with hundreds of volunteers and professional searchers.
The coroner said while there was an understandable desire to establish what happened to Noah, he criticised those expressing opinions online.
He added: “Most of this content has been inaccurate and baseless and some has been distressing to Noah’s family. Some may have been criminal.”
Mr Mccrisken, who described Noah as “well-liked, fiercely intelligent and hugely talented”, said the speculation must cease.
He added: “I’m asking the community and media to respect my wishes as the coroner responsible for investigating Noah’s death and respect the wishes of his family to be left in peace to begin to properly grieve for Noah.”
Mr Mccrisken stressed legal proceedings were active and warned such commentary may be in breach of contempt of court laws. He said police and coroner investigators had to be given “space” to conduct inquiries.
Last week, a family spokeswoman said the preliminary findings of a postmortem indicated the schoolboy had drowned and had not suffered a head injury.
One of the police’s early theories had been Noah was hurt in the fall from his bike, causing him to become disorientated and enter the drain.
Mr Mccrisken stressed during the 15-minute hearing further tests were to be conducted and outlined some details around Noah’s last movements, saying:
Noah had not been seen interacting
The family wish to be left in peace to grieve properly
JOE MCCRISKEN YESTERDAY
with any other people on any of the CCTV footage police had secured of his journey to Northwood Road
His bag containing his laptop was found on York Street and his phone was found on North Queen Street, and
A green coat, grey Primark shorts with no logo, white underwear and a dark green T-shirt with a light green and orange skull image still aren’t recovered.
He urged anyone with information about the items to come forward.
Solicitor Niall Murphy welcomed the call for ill-informed commentary to end, adding: “The family reiterate that that stops today.” He called on residents in the area where Noah went missing to check their CCTV footage.
Mr Murphy thanked all of those who had been involved in the search and who had passed their thoughts to the family, saying they had provided a “modicum of comfort” as they endured a “living nightmare”.
A further preliminary hearing was scheduled for September 30.