Court told about hand photo on Noah Donohoe phone

Noah had been missing for almost a week when his body was found

A photo of a hand may have been taken on Noah Donohoe's mobile phone hours after the teenager went missing, a court has heard.

The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020.

This was six days after he went missing as he travelled to meet friends.

Brenda Campbell KC, who is representing Noah's mother Fiona, told an inquest review hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast that during an examination of material from Noah's phone, an expert had found an image of what "appears to be a palm or a portion of a hand".

She described it as: "A type of photograph that might inadvertently be taken by a telephone that has been picked up or held in a hand."

'It wasn't Noah's hand'

Noah's mother is hoping to find answers from the inquest

"The significance of it is that the expert instructs it was taken at 18:50 on the evening of Noah's disappearance," she added.

Ms Campbell said they have asked their expert to "double check" the time, but if it was taken at 18:50, "that raises the prospect that Noah's phone was in someone's hand at that time".

"Based on what we know of Noah's movements and his disappearance about 40 minutes previously in the area of Northwood Crescent, a strong inference would be that it wasn't Noah's hand," Ms Campbell said.

The barrister said she wanted to raise a number of questions for the PSNI around the photograph.

She said: "Did they know about it and for how long have they known about it? And what was done about it?"

"And who was in possession of Noah's phone at that time and on that date?" she continued.

"If the answer is no, they didn't know about it, then why not?

"It is of such importance that we bring it directly to the attention of the court and we ask for urgent responses in relation to it."

Barrister Donal Lunny KC, who is representing the PSNI, said: "I have had very limited time in which to attempt to seek instructions.

"I obviously will and we will communicate with the next-of-kin and the coroner's service about that issue," he added.

The court was told a provisional date for a full inquest had been set for 3 February 2025.

The coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, said he would review the case again on 14 November.