"Six years after Noah Donohoe's bike ride across Belfast ended in a tragedy that mystified Northern Ireland, an inquest is seeking answers. Opening statements at Belfast coroner's court on Thursday marked the formal start of an attempt to fathom what happened to the 14-year-old schoolboy, who left his home on 21 June 2020 and was found six days later dead in a storm drain."
"Before he left home she had found him crying in his room. I asked him why he was crying. He turned to me and said he was laughing, Donohoe said. The period between Noah's disappearance and his body being found was a living nightmare, she said. She sat with her head bowed, visibly upset, as her emergency call from the day Noah went missing was played in court."
"Mr Justice Rooney told the jury of two women and nine men to keep an open mind about what happened, to deliver findings based on evidence in court and to ignore publicity around a case that has spawned conspiracy theories. Last week he warned the public to avoid any social media activity that could prejudice the inquest, which is expected to continue until late March."
Noah Donohoe, 14, left his south Belfast home on a bicycle on 21 June 2020 and was found dead in a storm drain six days later. An inquest has opened at Belfast coroner's court to determine the circumstances of his death. His mother described concern over his mood, an episode of crying before he left, and intense distress during the period he was missing. Hundreds of volunteers searched the city following his disappearance. A judge instructed the jury to remain open-minded and avoid prejudicial social media, noting the case attracted conspiracy theories. CCTV captured his journey and a fall from his bicycle.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]