Noah Donohoe: Court upholds PSNI application over information in teenager's death

The teenager was found dead in a north Belfast storm drain in June 2020

A coroner has ruled in favour of the police withholding some material during the upcoming inquest into the death of the Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe.

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

Mr Justice Humphreys has upheld a request from police for a Public Interest Immunity (PII) Certificate.

A certificate was signed by former Northern Ireland Secretary Shailesh Vara in July, but first had to be upheld by a court.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had requested the certificate to allow the redaction of information it said was "related to sensitive personal information and investigative methodology".

In March, at a public meeting of the Policing Board, the police service stated that what it wanted to hold back was "a small amount" of detail contained within three larger files.

A previous court hearing at Laganside Magistrates' Court was told three files containing about 600 pages and featuring at least 119 redactions were of concern.

The use of a PII certificate is opposed by Fiona Donohoe, Noah's mother, who believes it is an attempt to cover up the circumstances of her son's death.

The PSNI has ruled out foul play.

• Police source 'leaking' material on Donohoe death

• Family concern at bid to withhold Noah Donohoe files

• Private hearing set before Noah Donohoe inquest

An online petition in support of all material being disclosed at the inquest has attracted more than 300,000 signatures.

The PSNI has defended its actions.

The full inquest into his death is due to begin in November.

Delivering his ruling to uphold the PII application, Mr Justice Humphreys said he had seen and considered all the material the PSNI wanted to redact.

He believed there was nothing contained in it of central relevance to the reason for Noah's death.

He said he did, however, believe that disclosure of it would give rise to a real risk of serious harm to the public interest.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys said that there was nothing in the redacted material to suggest that any third party was involved in Noah's death, nor that there was any cover up.

He added that he had concluded that the only material withheld could reveal ways the police operate during investigations, and also reveal the identities of sources.

He believed that revealing that information could be of future use to terrorists and criminals.

Lastly, he said he was certain that the information still available to the inquest would enable it do its job properly and find out how Noah died.

He pointed out his hope that this process would help to allay rumour and suspicion surrounding Noah's death.

None of the Donohoe family or supporters were present in court for the ruling on Thursday at Laganside Courts in Belfast.

PII certificates are more associated with terrorism cases, but they have been used before in other instances, such as the inquest of murdered school girl Arlene Arkinson.