Fiona Donohoe calls for police files into son Noah’s death to be released in full
Fiona Donohoe spoke at a rally on what would have been her son’s 16th birthday.
The mother of schoolboy Noah Donohoe has called for all police files relating to the investigation into the death of her son to be released in full.
Fiona Donohoe was speaking at a rally in north Belfast on what would have been Noah’s 16th birthday.
Several hundred people attended the rally, many holding placards calling on the PSNI to release all sensitive material relating to the case.
The 14-year-old pupil at St Malachy’s College was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June last year, six days after he went missing.
Ms Donohoe told the event: “This should be Noah’s sweet 16th today and he should be standing with me celebrating. But there is nothing sweet about standing here today fighting for answers for Noah.
“We are still standing here with more questions than answers.
“Why I am angry is when they (the PSNI) have called no foul play, why are they saying they can’t give over four files of information and facts?”
Ms Donohoe’s legal representatives have previously raised concerns that the PSNI want to assess whether four files relating to the case should be redacted under public interest immunity (PII) ahead of an inquest into Noah’s death.
Ms Donohoe told the rally: “They said they were doing a thorough, robust, wide-ranging investigation; well let us see that, give us the four files.
“What PII actually means is that it is in the public’s interest. Well, we are the public, Noah was part of the public and it is in our interest that we get the truth and we get the answers for Noah.
“The chief constable needs to resign. All facts need to be given out otherwise we can’t get justice.”
The rally concluded with a carcade of vehicles driving from Belfast Zoo along the Antrim Road in support of the Donohoe family.
Earlier this month, an inquest into Noah’s death was delayed after his mother’s legal representative raised concern about the amount of time left to deal with a number of outstanding issues.
The inquest had originally been scheduled to begin on January 10 next year.
At a meeting of the Policing Board earlier this month, political representatives questioned the PSNI about the case.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly said the family of Noah Donohoe needed transparency.
A senior officer told the board that the coroner would assist the assessment of what information is relevant to the inquest and what may go forward for public interest immunity.
