Woman tells inquest she heard two screams on night Noah Donohoe disappeared

A witness has told the jury in the Noah Donohoe inquest that she heard two screams on the night the schoolboy went missing.

A police officer involved in the search for Noah was also questioned on Wednesday about whether the teenager’s interest in a self-help book became a feature of the investigation into his death.

Noah, a pupil of St Malachy’s College, was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was drowning.

The inquest, which is being heard with a jury, is in its third week.

Noah’s mother, Fiona, has attended every day of the proceedings.

Tanya Brown lives at Premier Drive in north Belfast, close to the area where Noah disappeared.

In her witness statement, which was read to Belfast Coroner’s Court, Ms Brown said she was in bed at around midnight on the night of June 21 2020.

She said: “I was lying in my bed reading. It was a warm night, so I had my bedroom window lying wide open.

“I heard what sounded like a scream, but it didn’t sound as if it was close by, it sounded like it was some distance away. It sounded like a girl screaming.”

She said she woke up her husband, who was sleeping downstairs, and went outside.

She said: “We both went into the back garden, my bedroom looks out onto my back garden, and this is where I heard the scream come from. We stood in the garden, and that’s when I heard the second scream.”

She said she stood outside for about five minutes before coming back inside.

Ms Brown said she became aware that Noah was missing when she noticed messages on her phone from friends the following day and saw a search operation close to her home.

Counsel for Ms Donohoe, Brenda Campbell KC, pointed out that Ms Brown’s police statement referred to hearing at least two, and potentially three screams.

She said: “Was there any doubt in your mind that what you were hearing at the time was a human?”

Ms Brown said: “No doubt.”

She added: “It could have been a young person or a girl.”

Earlier, one of the constables involved in the search for Noah gave evidence to the inquest for a second day.

The constable was asked about a statement he provided to the Coroner’s Service in January 2021, seven months after Noah died.

In that statement, the officer said when he had first met Ms Donohoe after her son disappeared, she had described Noah as “very weepy” and said she had requested his school arrange counselling for him.

Ms Campbell said this detail had not featured in his notes or the police log from the period when Noah was missing.

The court was shown a transcript of Ms Donohoe’s 999 call on Sunday June 21 2020 and from her statement to the inquest.

Ms Campbell said the constable’s statement gave a “materially different” account of events to that which Ms Donohoe had given in her evidence.

The officer said the statement was based on his recollection from the time.

Ms Campbell told the court that the January 2021 statement from the constable had been requested “out of the blue” by a more senior officer to be sent to the Coroner’s Service.

The officer had been asked to “provide observations of comments made by Ms Donohoe regarding Noah’s behaviour leading up to his disappearance”.

Ms Campbell asked if he had spoken to any other officers about how to respond to the request and the constable said he did not recall doing so.

Ms Campbell pointed out that the constable’s statement also referred to Noah’s interest in the book 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson.

The inquest has previously heard Noah had read the book by the Canadian psychologist and discussed it with friends.

Ms Campbell said: “Did you, after your dealings with Fiona on the 22nd or 23rd, did you become aware of any discussions or any focus on how Noah’s reading that book may have become a feature of his inquest or the investigation into his death?”

The officer said he had made the statement five years ago and it was based on his recollections from conversations with Ms Donohoe.

He said: “I specifically remember her speaking about that book.”

Ms Campbell said the request for the January 2021 statement had come following a preliminary inquest hearing where a previous coroner had sought to instruct an expert witness to explore Noah’s mental health.

She said: “Were you aware of that when you wrote your statement?”

The officer said he could not remember.

Barrister for the PSNI Donal Lunny KC asked the constable if, by January 2021, this was a missing person’s case he had forgotten about or had it been significant.

The officer said: “Significant, absolutely.”

The inquest continues.