Jury selection for Belfast schoolboy’s inquest begins | UK News

A process to select a jury is under way ahead of an inquest into the death of the Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe.

The body of the 14-year-old was found in a storm drain in north Belfast on 27 June 2020, six days after he went missing.

A post-mortem examination found that his death was due to drowning.

Legal representatives for Noah’s family have previously said they have “outstanding questions” around the circumstances of his death that they hope the inquest will answer.

Ahead of the inquest, Mr Justice Rooney, who is the coroner in the case, warned about potentially serious consequences over any speculative social media posts.

The inquest before a jury was originally due to begin on 3 November.

Noah was a pupil at St Malachy’s College, who lived in Fitzroy Avenue, close to the Ormeau Road in south Belfast.

On 21 June 2020, he had cycled through the city centre and on to the Shore Road area of north Belfast.

His family said he had been on his way to meet friends at Cave Hill at the time.

Noah did not come home.

After a large-scale search, his body was found about 600m from the entrance to a culvert inlet behind Northwood Road in north Belfast.

Although a pathologist could not provide an exact time of death, she found there to be “nothing inconsistent” with a finding that Noah died in the hours after his last known sighting, which was at about 19:00 BST on 21 June.

CCTV established the teenager left his home on his bicycle at 17:41 on 21 June.

He travelled along the Ormeau Road towards the city centre and was on Royal Avenue at 17:50.

At about 17:59 he was seen on CCTV and by an eyewitnesses falling from his bicycle.

At various points on his journey, Noah appeared to discard some of his possessions including his rucksack and mobile phone.

He travelled along York Road before turning into Skegoniell Avenue in north Belfast and then into Northwood Crescent and finally Northwood Road.

During part of his journey through north Belfast, he was observed cycling without any clothes.

Noah was reported missing by his mother at 21:44 that evening.

The following evening, after a police appeal, a resident of Northwood Road contacted police to say she had found a bike matching the description of Noah’s.

On 27 June, Noah’s body was found in a storm drain.

Separate CCTV footage, released by police in an appeal for information in October 2025, the schoolboy was seen leaving his home at about 03:34 wearing flip flops, a t-shirt and shorts and carrying headphones.

The footage showed Noah returning to his home at Fitzroy Avenue at about 04:08 on the same morning barefoot and without his headphones.

In July 2020, a post-mortem examination found Noah had died as a result of drowning, but his family said it raised more questions than answers.

If the jury is not selected on Monday, the process will resume on Tuesday.