Stormont department will not be prosecuted over Noah Donohoe’s death, court says – The Irish News

Final decision not to prosecute Stormont department for corporate manslaughter over his death student Noah Donohoe It was taken, the court was heard.

14-year-old Noah was found dead in the sewer he owned Ministry of Infrastructure (DFI) in north Belfast in 2020, six days after she went missing.

His mother, Fiona Donohoe, hopes to get answers to some of the questions surrounding her son’s death through the inquest process.

Miss Donohoe was at the Royal Courts of Justice Belfast The final preliminary hearing in the long-running case is scheduled for Thursday.

full investigation It is expected to happen next year.

In 2021, police launched an investigation into suspected corporate murder into how DFI managed access to the sewer network.

In 2022, PSNI He forwarded a file to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPS) and the ministry decided not to pursue charges against him.

But he later decided to review that decision at the request of Ms Donohoe’s legal team.

Providing an update to the court on Thursday, coroner’s lawyer Peter Coll KC said a letter was sent from the PPS to the coroner service on October 25 “regarding the finalization of the decision not to prosecute DFI”.

a spokesperson FIVE He confirmed that the original decision not to prosecute had been upheld.

The spokesman said: “In accordance with the review procedure for prosecutors set out in the PPS Act, a senior prosecutor considered all available evidence and re-applied the test for prosecution.

“The information considered included all the evidence in the police investigation file, advice from senior counsel independent of the PPS and a new report by a health and safety expert.

“All evidence was considered solely from the perspective of whether any actions by the department constituted criminal conduct.”

The spokesman added: “Following this process, it was determined that the evidence was insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and therefore the original decision not to prosecute was upheld.

“We wrote to Ms Donohoe in July 2024 to give detailed reasons for the review outcome and offered to answer any other questions she might have.

“We assured Ms Donohoe that the decision was taken only after the most careful and impartial consideration of all available evidence, the circumstances of the case and all relevant legal issues.”

During the lengthy review hearing, Mr Coll briefed the court on a number of matters relating to the disclosure process and the preparation of expert reports ahead of the full investigation.

Ms Donohoe’s barrister, Brenda Campbell KC, also told the court about a photograph of a hand found on Noah’s phone, believed to have been taken on the night he disappeared.

At an earlier hearing, Ms Campbell said an expert had found the footage, which raised the possibility that the phone was in someone else’s possession after Noah went missing.

He told the final hearing: “It does not appear that there is a dispute about the timing of the photo or that it is unlikely that there is a dispute that the photo was taken on his phone at the time.

“But we have not yet received an answer to the questions of who, why and where from those working on this issue within the PSNI.

“We won’t be able to make progress on our expert report until we get some of these answers.”

PSNI lawyer Donal Lunny KC said he was hopeful written responses could be provided next week.

The inquest into Noah’s death was originally planned to be held last year, but was postponed due to a jury’s decision to proceed following an application by Ms Donohoe.

The original coroner, Joe McCrisken, has since recused himself from the case. The inquest will now be heard by Mr Justice Rooney.

A provisional date for the inquiry has been set for February 3 next year, but it is not expected to be ready to proceed by that date.

Mr Justice Rooney said he would review progress in the case before Christmas.