No action over social media posts during Donohoe inquest, says attorney general

The Attorney General (AG) for Northern Ireland has decided to take no action over inappropriate social media content relating to the Noah Donohoe inquest.

The attorney general has concluded that "it would not be in the public interest" to bring contempt of court proceedings.

The coroner at the inquest, Mr Justice Rooney, referred matters to the attorney general on a number of occasions during the hearings into the death of the schoolboy.

Noah died in north Belfast more than six years ago and a verdict into his disappearance and death was delivered in September.

In June, the coroner explained that he referred additional matters to the attorney general specifically in relation to social media postings during the evidence of a senior witness from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Det Ch Insp Tom Phillips.

The Office of the Attorney General has now told BBC News NI that it will not be pursuing the matter.

"Whilst it is clear that many of the social media posts in question were entirely inappropriate and had the potential to prejudice the proceedings, the attorney general, having given careful consideration to the matter, decided that it would not be in the public interest to bring contempt proceedings," a spokesperson for the office said.

The jury at the inquest concluded that Noah Donohoe, who was a 14-year-old student at St Malachy's College, died in an underground water tunnel within hours of his disappearance on 21 June 2020.

The inquest had heard that there was no evidence of anyone else being involved in the teenager's disappearance and death.