"It was shambolic"- Donal MacIntyre slams PSNI handling of Noah Donohoe investigation
Donal MacIntyre also says he fears missing Noah may have been alive and trapped in a storm drain for up to four days - while cops searched for him nearby.
The PSNI failed missing teenager Noah Donohoe - and its investigation into his mystery disappearance and death was shambolic, a leading author says today.
“It was of an embarrassing level,” investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre claims.
And, in an exclusive interview with The Irish Mirror, Mr MacIntyre also says he fears missing Noah may have been alive and trapped in a storm drain for up to four days - while cops searched for him nearby.
Mr MacIntyre has been investigating the case of Belfast teenager Noah since shortly after his body was found by PSNI officers in the storm drain in the north of the city on June 27, 2020.
That came after a massive six-day search for the missing 14-year-old, whose disappearance gripped and horrified people all over Ireland, Britain and beyond.
Three pathologists agreed in evidence at a recent inquest that there was no evidence of any third-party involvement in Noah's death. It also heard that his death was consistent with drowning.
The acclaimed investigative reporter has now written a hard-hitting probe into the case just over a month after a jury returned a narrative verdict in the 20-week inquest into Noah’s death.
Such a verdict is a factual statement of the circumstances surrounding a death - without attributing the cause to an individual.
The jury found there were no police failings that may have contributed to his death, but jurors identified a series of subsequent investigative errors by officers that impacted on the ability of the jury to reach conclusions on aspects of the inquest.
The seven men and two women listed 13 failings by the PSNI, including failing to secure all relevant CCTV footage, poor execution of house-to-house inquiries and a delay in identifying that Noah may have entered the storm drain tunnel where he was found.
The jury also found that the Department for Infrastructure, which managed the storm drain, "erred" by not identifying that the public could access the underground water tunnel, with no warnings in place around the culvert.
While the jurors found it was not "probable" that failings by the Department contributed to Noah's death, they said it was possible.
Now, speaking to the Irish Mirror’s crime podcast Shattered Lives to mark publication of his book, ' The Search For Truth: Noah Donohoe ', Mr MacIntyre lambasts the police investigation.
And he says he became involved in helping the family search for answers over Noah’s death because he was unimpressed with the probe into his disappearance - and agreed to a plea for assistance from Noah’s devastated mum Fiona and aunt Niamh.
He tells us: “It was the unique pleadings of a mother and an aunt that brought this story to me.
“I just believed in the story. I did not really have much conviction that necessarily the PSNI had done a proper job.
“This was a kid who deserved a proper investigation - very simple.
“I just alighted this kid from the outset did not get the investigation he deserved. He deserved it and he should have got an investigation from perfectly well paid, fantastically trained civil servants, experts throughout the whole investigation from start to finish and my hymn from the very start was that he didn’t.”
When asked if the PSNI failed young Noah, he replied: “Incredibly”.
And he added: “It was shambolic. It was of an embarrassing level. These are supposed to be the best of the best, well trained. It was just embarrassing and humiliating.”
Mr Macintyre highlights the fact on the Monday night - 24 hours after Fiona reported Noah missing - civilian search expert Sean McCarry said he believed there was a 50 per cent chance the teen could be in a storm drain on Department for Infrastructure land near Northwood Avenue in north Belfast, where he had been spotted cycling naked the previous evening.
He says while Mr McCarry said there was a 50 per cent chance Noah was in the storm drain, a police officer said he believed it was more like five per cent - but a non-emergency exclusionary search a few metres into the drain was carried out and no trace of Noah was found.
When asked why he believes the police did not agree with the 50 per cent assessment, he says: “It was more than they disagree, they did not really connect with it.
“We have to say that every police officer involved in the search wanted to find Noah. They may have not been good enough.
“They may have fallen short, they may have made bad decisions in my subjective view, but they all wanted this. And they are all good family people who wanted the best. But that does not excuse the fact there were decisions made.”
He says the PSNI started focusing on the storm drain as a possible location for Noah on the Wednesday, but still believed he was elsewhere and continued to search lands in the area.
He says: “It was not their conviction until so late in the day. That really was the staggering thing for me.
“The PSNI were wrong, McCarry was right. His estimation was sadly right.”
Mr MacIntyre also points to the fact that on the Monday, officers had been shown CCTV footage of a naked Noah cycling naked in the area close to the storm drain.
That came from a camera on the front of a house nearby, he says. But there were two other cameras on the property that were not checked - including one that gave a view of the around the storm drain.
He says: “There was a back camera angle over the storm drain which could have filmed and caught Noah entering or in and around that area.
“It could have indicated was there third party involvement; it could have told us when Noah went in, when he was alive, when he died.
“This could have been conclusively proved if you had seen Noah entering the storm drain on the Sunday night or maybe in the early hours of Monday morning.
“This was something that could have unlocked the whole mystery.”
Mr MacIntyre also criticises the police for failing to test and examine handprints found on the wall of the drain - yards from where officers recovered Noah’s body early on Saturday morning.
He says: “The handprints weren’t taken, the basics were never done.
“If they were Noah’s they tell us Noah died where he was found.
“There was plenty of time to do it, but they were not thinking. They also didn’t take any water samples to compare the water samples in his lungs with the water samples there, which again would have told you Noah drowned where he was found.”
Mr MacIntyre also says he disagrees with the inquest jury’s finding that Noah died in the storm drain between 7pm and midnight on the Sunday he disappeared.
“I find it hard to accept,” he says.
He says three pathologists gave evidence in the inquest that Noah could have been alive for several days.
He says: “They came to a conclusion which the experts, whose evidence they were supposed to follow, did not agree with.
“There were three pathologists who gave evidence.
“All three said Noah could have lived to the Tuesday. There were screams heard in and around the area well into the early hours of Monday morning.
“It appears the jury discounted all the screams, the unusual activity (reported) from multiple families all around the storm drain until 3.30 in the morning.
“They ignored the three pathologists who said Noah could have survived until Tuesday, two of those three said potentially until Wednesday.
“I think it was an error, they went against the expert medical evidence, which they should not have done.”
Mr MacIntyre says he brought in his own expert who agreed Noah could have been alive for several days - and suggested as far as Thursday.
And he speaks of the moment he had to break that news to Noah’s mother Fiona.
He says: “It was just horrific and she was obviously upset on the phone, but she understands. She brought me in.
“These were the uncomfortable questions. I said, ‘I want to alert you to the fact that I think this may be the case’.”
As part of his investigation, Mr Macintyre went underground to recreate Noah’s final journey into the storm drain - and says he was overcome with emotion as he approached the spot where the boy died.
He says: “I closed my eyes and I just thought, let me put myself in his position. It is terrifying.
“All you hear is the pervading roll of the water.
“It is enveloping, and I just felt this was a moment for a prayer.”
Mr MacIntyre also says he does not believe Noah would have taken his own life.
He says: “There was no suicidal ideation, there was no discussion of that in Noah’s world.
“Mental health and suicide we can ignore.”
And in the Shattered Lives interview, Mr MacIntyre also says if there was a third party involvement in Noah’s death, it was likely someone innocently trying to help him.
He says he believes Noah was hiding in undergrowth into the early hours of Monday morning.
Mr MacIntyre says members of the community had spotted him cycling naked in the area and people had also heard screams late in the night - as well as one woman reporting someone tried to open her kitchen door in the early hours of the morning.
He says there was also a report that someone used a flashlight around midnight. He now believes a well-meaning Good Samaritan was out looking for Noah - but unwittingly spooked him and he then ran to hide in the storm drain where he was later found dead.
He says: “It is not beyond the bounds of possibility there were whispers going around there is a naked kid, we are a bit concerned.
“It is a very close-knit community, did someone go out and look for this person? I am saying in a benign fashion. I wonder why this person has never come forward?
“I think if there is a third party intervention on the locus after Noah was last seen naked it was the torchlight person. Noah, for some reason, may have been hiding and it is quite dense undergrowth.
“He could easily have been hiding in the dark and this torchlight person could have heard reports, screams and even reports earlier from the naked kid and gone out there looking for somebody in a benign way.
“Noah may have seen the person, been flushed out really, and then run or fled and sought sanctuary in the storm drain. Or he may have been chased.
“I would like to think that it was more likely than not that the third party intervention was benign and seeking to help. Noah may have misinterpreted that.”
We contacted the PSNI for comment about Mr MacIntyre’s comments about the force’s investigation into Noah. A spokeswoman pointed us to a statement the force made after the inquest verdict.
Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: “First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the profound impact that the death of Noah has had on his family and friends.
“Noah was a child with his whole life ahead of him. His death is a tragedy, and our thoughts remain firmly with his family and those who loved him.
“This was a complex and challenging investigation which garnered huge public and media interest, along with widespread speculation.
“The eventual outcome was devastating for everyone involved, including the officers, and search teams.
“We note the coronial jury’s findings and as with any investigation, it is important that we reflect on any learnings and ensure they are applied in the future.
“Officers were determined in their efforts to locate Noah and bring him home.
“Sadly, there was no action that police could have taken, that would have prevented Noah’s death.
“We continue to keep his loved ones in our thoughts and recognise the suffering they endure.”
- The Search For Truth: Noah Donohoe by Donal MacIntyre and published by Mirror Books is out now. Donal MacIntyre was speaking to our crime podcast Shattered Lives, available now on all platforms.
