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.
The inquest into the death of the 14-year-old, which is being heard with a jury, has now entered its 10th week. Noah, a pupil at St Malachy's College, was found naked in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he left home on his bike. A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was likely to be drowning.
Proceedings resumed on Monday afternoon with evidence from witnesses about anonymous calls made to police in the days after Noah disappeared. One witness, referred to as AC2, said he did not know Noah but had got to know another witness, AC3, through playing online bingo during lockdown. His statement said AC3 had visited him on June 21, 2020, when Daryl Paul 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 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. Days later, AC3 told him the laptop sounded the same as one Noah had been carrying. After speaking to another friend, they decided to report the matter to police. The statement said: 'I remember feeling sick about the whole thing.'
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, saying 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 had not been acted upon.
The witness, AC3, said she had heard recordings of the first call and denied making it: 'I can say I did not make this call to police, it does not sound like my voice on the call.' She also said she did not realise there was a second call until that day. Barrister for Paul, Ian Skelt KC, suggested his client claims AC3 had given him a lift on the evening he attempted to sell the laptop, asking: 'Do you think it is possible that that happened and you have just forgotten about (it)?'
