Noah Donohoe: CCTV shows teenager moments before last sighting

The CCTV footage appears to show Noah cycling on his bicycle in a normal way along York Road

The BBC has obtained CCTV footage that shows Noah Donohoe cycling along Belfast's York Road minutes before the last sighting of him.

The 14-year-old Belfast boy went missing on 21 June 2020.

His body was found in a storm drain in north Belfast six days later. He had drowned.

It is understood the CCTV footage obtained by the BBC is one of 22 pieces of footage that recorded Noah's journey across Belfast the day he disappeared.

Police said at the time they believed Noah may have sustained a head injury after falling off his bike in the vicinity of North Queen Street and York Street.

The footage was recorded later on in Noah's journey on York Road and it appears to show Noah cycling on his bicycle in a normal way.

The timings on CCTV pictures are not always precise. If accurate the time of day on the footage showing Noah on his bike near the Grove Wellbeing Centre is timed at 18:01 BST on 21 June 2020.

According to police, the last confirmed sighting of Noah was at 18:11 close to the storm drain at the back of Northwood Road in north Belfast.

While the CCTV timings suggest it took him 10 minutes to make the final leg of his journey, the distance can be made on bicycle in two and half minutes.

It is not known what he was doing for the remainder of that time.

• Post-mortem examination shows schoolboy died by drowning

There have been renewed calls for speculation about the death of the schoolboy to stop.

In spite of assurances from the PSNI that there was no foul play - and praise from Belfast coroner Joe McCrisken for the north Belfast community who assisted the police - people living in the area have been targeted by anonymous online trolls - claiming the boys disappearance is part of a loyalist conspiracy.

Belfast PUP Councillor Billy Hutchinson has called for the online abuse to stop.

"People - I don't know how to describe them - from the nationalist or republican community - started to make allegations about what happened to the young lad alluding that people in the loyalist community were behind this," he said.

"There was nobody in the loyalist community behind this. The loyalist community is behind Noah… and his mother."

Unlocked storm drain hatch?

More details have emerged on the access hatch to the storm drain which police believe he entered.

Noah Donahoe's body was found six days after he went missing on 21 June 2020

Noah's body was found six days later a kilometre downstream.

The cause of death was drowning.

It is understood the hatch within the grille on the storm drain that allows access was not locked on the day Noah disappeared.

According to a senior Department for Infrastructure source, the padlock currently on the grille was put there by officials on 24 June 2020 - after consultation with the police three days after the boy disappeared.

The hatch was unlocked until then, sources said.

When asked to confirm this, a DfI spokesperson said: "The information that you have requested relates to ongoing police and coroner investigations.

"The department cannot release information into the public domain which would undermine the progress of such investigations.

"It will therefore not be possible to comment any further while these investigations are ongoing."

Mystery remains as to why Noah was in the Northwood district in the first place and why he entered the storm drain.

Politicians have called for more information.

Last week Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said on social media: "Many questions remain unanswered.

"I will continue to support Fiona (Noah's mother) and the family to get answers to the questions surrounding the tragic loss of Noah."

During a preliminary hearing ahead of the full inquest, Coroner Joe McCrisken said Noah wasn't seen interacting with anyone else at any of these sightings.

He also appealed for an end to online speculation.