Jury selection continues for inquest

A process to select a jury for the inquest into the death of Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe will continue into a third day.

The body of the 14-year-old was found in a storm drain in north Belfast on 27 June 2020, six days after he went missing.

A post-mortem examination found that his death was due to drowning.

The jury selection process began on Monday. On Tuesday morning, almost one hundred people were still under consideration as efforts continued in private to select the eleven people who will serve on the jury.

That figure has since been reduced after several dozen people were excused by the coroner, Mr Justice Rooney.

The process of elimination is ongoing.

Once the jury has been selected, the eleven members will hear the opening details of the case.

A jury was granted for the inquest following an application on behalf of Noah’s family during pre-inquest proceedings.

The inquest will look into the circumstances of his death, focusing on how, when and where he died.

Noah disappeared after cycling to the Shore Road in north Belfast from his home at Fitzroy Avenue in south Belfast in the afternoon of 21 June 2020.

The last reported sighting of him was at around 18:00 BST that evening.

His body was found downstream in a storm drain on 27 June.

Noah’s mother, Fiona, returned to Laganside Court on Tuesday for the second day of the jury selection process.