An inquest verdict at last - but many mysteries remain about Noah Donohoe's death

More than six years after Noah Donohoe’s body was recovered 600 metres into a freezing underground water passageway in Belfast, an inquest jury has delivered a verdict, yet significant uncertainties about the circumstances of his death persist. The teenager vanished on the night before his disappearance, leaving his home in the midst of a rain‑soaked evening. Closed‑circuit television later showed him returning barefoot approximately 34 minutes after his initial departure. On Sunday 21 June 2020 he was last seen at the south Belfast residence he shared with a parent. He subsequently travelled to an unfamiliar area of north Belfast, where he was observed barefoot at the entrance of the passageway. A post‑mortem examination determined that Noah died by drowning, with the passageway in which he was found leading toward Belfast Lough and its tidal currents. Following years of procedural delays, the jury concluded that failings by the Department of Infrastructure relating to the passageway could have possibly, but not probably, contributed to his death. The panel also identified 13 shortcomings in the actions of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), though it found none of those failings played any role in the 14‑year‑old’s demise. Having spent months in court examining the evidence, the jurors described the process as far from straightforward. They listened to testimony from dozens of witnesses and reviewed extensive volumes of authoritative and expert documentation. This week the jury deliberated on Monday and Tuesday. Their decision came more than two months after the inquest was dramatically adjourned in the early hours following three days of deliberation that failed to produce a verdict, after which proceedings resumed.