Witness who saw Noah Donohoe cycling naked thought it was a ‘prank’

A witness has told the Noah Donohoe inquest that he thought it was a “prank” when he saw the schoolboy cycling naked on the day he disappeared.

The hearing at Belfast Coroner’s Court resumed on Monday following a week’s break.

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 now in its fourth week.

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

Connor McConnell told the hearing that he had been at his mother’s partner’s house on Sunday June 21.

His statement, which was read to the jury, said: “While at the house, I was sat facing the living room window that looks out onto Northwood Road when I saw a male cycle past the window naked.

“I initially thought that this was a prank.”

He said he had gone outside and saw items of clothing on the street.

A second statement read to the inquest said: “I told the police I had seen a nude male cycling up the street, and had observed his shoes neatly placed on the footpath and shorts and boxers looked like they had been stepped out of.

“These were also on the footpath, as were a T-shirt and hoodie, which I believed also belonged to the male.”

Mr McConnell said he had later seen a dark car driving up the street and then saw two men talking at the top of the cul-de-sac.

He said he concluded this had nothing to do with the naked cyclist.

The audio of two phone calls the witness made to police on the Monday and Tuesday after Noah went missing were then played to the jury.

Mr McConnell told the inquest that he believed he had made three calls to the police, including two on the Sunday night.

He said he had made the first call on the Sunday after seeing a Facebook post about a missing person which had been shared that evening.

Counsel for the coroner Declan Quinn told the witness that the police position is that the first contact from him had been on the Monday night.

Mr McConnell said he believed that the first of the two calls played to the jury was instead from the Sunday evening.

Donal Lunny, barrister for the PSNI, said police had made “various searches” and were “satisfied” that Mr Connell had first contacted them on the Monday, and made a second contact on the Tuesday.