Noah Donohoe looked startled after falling off bike, inquest hears
Noah was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020
Noah Donohoe looked “startled” in the moments after he fell of his bike on evening he went missing, an inquest into his death has heard.
A motorist told the inquest she had sounded her horn to alert the schoolboy that he had left his coat on the ground after he picked up his bike, but that he had cycled on.
Noah was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bike to meet two friends to travel to the Cavehill area of Belfast.
The inquest into his death heard a witness statement from Sinead Quinn, who said she contacted police after she saw a youth when driving at the junction of North Queen Street and Alexandra Park Avenue on June 21, 2020.
She said it was shortly after 6pm and she had left Asda after shopping for a Father’s Day present.
Her statement said she saw a young male picking a bike off the road, but did not see him fall.
She said: “He picked the bike up off the ground, got onto it and began to cycle away towards the shore road away from city centre.”
She said she then saw his jacket was still on the road.
She said: “I beeped the horn to point this out to him.
“He looked startled, he didn’t lift the coat, but just cycled on, which I thought was strange.”
The witness said she did not see if the youth had been injured.
The following day she saw a Facebook post regarding Noah being missing and contacted police because she believed this was the youth she had seen.
Ms Quinn was later shown CCTV footage of what is believed to be Noah falling off his bike.
Counsel for Fiona Donohoe, Brenda Campbell KC, said Ms Quinn had been the first eyewitness to the incident at North Queen Street to contact police.
Ms Quinn confirmed to Ms Campbell that she did not see Noah suffer any physical injury.
The witness told the court she could not be certain why Noah had looked startled when she sounded her horn.
Ms Campbell asked the witness if she had told police that she believed Noah had suffered a head injury after falling off the bike.
Ms Quinn said: “All I could tell for certain was that he was picking up his bike…I don’t think I would have said he had sustained a head injury.”
