Noah Donohoe inquest hears recordings of anonymous calls to police

Recordings of anonymous phone calls made to police about an attempt to sell Noah Donohoe’s laptop while the schoolboy was missing have been played at his inquest.

One woman told Belfast Coroner’s Court that she had not made the calls, despite a claim from another witness.

She also denied that she or her family had been threatened before she gave evidence to the court.

The inquest into the death of the schoolboy, which is being heard with a jury, has now entered its 10th week.

Noah, a pupil at St Malachy’s College, was 14 when his naked body was found in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he left home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was likely to be drowning.

Noah’s mother Fiona Donohoe has attended court every day of the inquest.

Proceedings resumed on Monday afternoon with evidence from witnesses about anonymous calls made to police in the days after Noah disappeared.

A statement from witness AC2 was read to the court.

The witness said he did not know Noah but had got to know another witness, AC3, through playing online bingo during lockdown in June 2020.

The statement said AC3 had visited him at his father’s flat on June 21 2020, when Daryl Paul had arrived and attempted to sell them a laptop.

Paul, of Cliftonville Avenue, has previously pleaded guilty to stealing a rucksack containing Noah’s laptop and school books.

The statement said Paul told them he found the laptop at the Arts College in Belfast.

The witness said: “The fact that there was no charger and it wasn’t his laptop rang alarm bells for me.”

AC2 said he had no interest in buying the laptop. His statement said AC3 and Daryl Paul then left the flat at the same time.

The court then heard that days later the witness was told by AC3 that the laptop sounded the same as one which Noah had been carrying when he disappeared.

AC2 said after they spoke to another friend, they decided to report the matter to police.

The statement said: “I remember feeling sick about the whole thing.”

The statement said AC3 had then made an anonymous phone call to police while he was with her in her car.

AC3 then gave evidence at the inquest.

She said she had heard recordings of the first call made to police.

She said: “I can say I did not make this call to police, it does not sound like my voice on the call.”

Counsel to the coroner Peter Coll asked the witness why she believed AC2 and Paul had given statements claiming she was the one who had contacted police.

She said: “I think the two of them are spoofing.”

Recordings of two anonymous phone calls, on June 24 and 25, were then played to the jury.

In the first recording, the caller reported an attempt by Paul to sell the laptop at a flat.

The caller said Paul had a plastic bag containing a rucksack, the laptop, a green North Face coat and a school book with Noah Donohoe’s name on it.

The caller said: “I’m just really worried about this guy. If he knows something about where that boy is.”

In the second recording, the caller expressed concern that the information from the previous call had not been acted upon.

Mr Coll then asked AC3: “Did you make that phone call?”

The witness said: “No, I didn’t realise there was another call until today.”

Barrister for Paul, Ian Skelt KC, said his client claims AC3 had given him a lift on the evening he had attempted to sell the laptop.

He said: “Do you think it is possible that that happened and you have just forgotten about (it)?”

The witness replied: “No, I don’t think so.”

Mr Skelt pointed out that following the two anonymous calls to the PSNI, police had phoned the number back.

He said: “When the police rang the number back that had made those calls, they spoke to a woman who gave their details as having your name, your address and your date of birth, all correctly?”

AC3 said: “Those are my details, yes.”

He said: “Do you think that was actually you who answered that telephone call?”

She answered: “No, absolutely not.”

Mr Skelt said: “Can you explain why somebody else would have been able to give your name, your address, and date of birth?”

She said: “That is what I would like to know.”

He said: “Are those things just coincidences or is it possible it was you who was making those calls?”

AC3 responded: “I never made the calls and I never received no calls from the police.”

The witness was then questioned by Brenda Campbell KC who represents Ms Donohoe in the inquest.

She said Noah’s mother “would very much like to know who made that anonymous call”.

Ms Campbell said whoever was making the calls was making it clear they could not reveal their identity to the police.

Referring to the claim from AC2 that he was in the car with AC3 when she called police, Ms Campbell said: “Are you clear quite clear in your own mind that that never happened?”

The witness said: “110%”

Ms Campbell said Ms Donohoe wants to know the motivation for the person who made the calls, to know if they were “genuine and sincere”.

AC3 responded: “It wasn’t me.”

Ms Campbell said: “Would you tell us if it was?”

She said: “I would.”

Coroner Mr Justice Rooney asked the witness if she had been contacted by anyone prior to giving evidence in court.

AC3 said: “No.”

He asked: “Has anyone threatened you, made threats to your family?”

She said: “No.”

The inquest will resume on Tuesday.