Independence of Noah inquest witness questioned

Questions have been raised at the Noah Donohoe inquest about the independence of an expert witness for a Stormont department.

The Department for Infrastructure is involved in the inquest arising from its management of a culvert in north Belfast close to where the schoolboy was last seen almost six years ago.

Noah's body was found in an underground water tunnel not far from the M2 motorway in north Belfast in June 2020.

He disappeared six days earlier close to the culvert entrance more than 600 metres upstream beside a residential area at Northwood Road.

Jeremy Benn is a hydrologist and engineer who has been instructed as an expert witness at the inquest for the Department for Infrastructure.

Benn told the inquest on Thursday that he has provided training about culvert operations to staff at the Department for Infrastructure.

On Friday, the inquest was told that Jeremy Benn Associates had conducted consultancy contract work for the department when Benn was its chief executive officer.

Benn said he no longer holds that position and the company is now owned by a staff trust, and he has an advisory role.

The witness was asked if, after being approached to act as an expert witness for the department following Noah's death, he might have considered advising the department to seek a more "independent" witness.

He indicated that if there was any potential "conflict of interest" arising from his business relationship with the department it was a matter for department officials to decide if they wanted to continue to instruct him as an expert witness.

The witness was also asked about correspondence from the Department for Infrastructure in 2021 - the year after Noah's death - to both the then minister, Nichola Mallon, and the Police Service of Northernn Ireland (PSNI), in which the department indicated that it was satisfied with the type of screen in place at the culvert entrance.

Issues about potential safety concerns around the type of screen in place at the time have been an issue since Noah's death.

Benn was asked if he was aware that a brief phone call he had about the matter was being interpreted by the Department for Infrastructure - during its correspondence with the minister and the PSNI - as "your seal of approval".

He replied: "That wasn't my understanding, no".

He was asked if the department was "overplaying" his role.

Benn replied: "I don't think it was deliberate".

Other expert witnesses at the inquest have disagreed with Benn's view about the type of screen used at the culvert at the time of Noah's death.

Benn has favoured the department's use of a debris screen, with wider bar spaces, as a preferred flood prevention measure.

The inquest has heard that this type of screen enables people to enter it.

Other expert witnesses have told the inquest that they believe a security screen, with narrower bar spaces, should have been used at the site to prevent unauthorised access.

But Benn and witnesses from the Department for Infrastructure have told the inquest that they believe security screens pose a greater risk of potential entrapment.

Benn also told the inquest that it was "my mistake" to inform the inquest that the death of a man at a culvert in England was linked to a security screen at the site.

When it was pointed out to the witness that there was no security screen issue at the English site at the time of the tragedy, he replied, "there's an error on my part".

The coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, pointed out to Benn that three examples of culvert related deaths he (the witness) highlighted to the inquest were not arising from security screens.

Officials from the Department for Infrastructure watched from the public gallery as Benn gave his evidence to the inquest.

He is due to complete his evidence at a future date.