The State of Us Podcast
A special series from The State of Us podcast following each day of the inquest into 14-year-old Noah Donohoe's death. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey take you inside the courtroom.
In the summer of 2020, 14-year-old Noah Donohoe went missing in Belfast. Six days later his body was found in a storm drain.
Questions about his disappearance and death have dominated headlines for the last five and a half years.
The inquest into Noah's death will, for the first time, lay out the facts and evidence in this case.
In this special series from The State of Us podcast, Tara Mills and Declan Harvey take you inside the courtroom, bringing you the evidence as it unfolds each day.
Contact thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Episodes to download
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55. Mystery call to Noah.—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Yesterday
A mystery call was made to Noah’s phone from his own number the night before he vanished.
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54. Fireworks in court—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wednesday
A returning witness today said he was sick of being harassed by the legal teams.
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53. Escaping the tunnel—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tuesday
A Department for Infrastructure official explains why he crawled through the storm drain.
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52. The steep drop—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Monday
An expert says the steep gradient of part of the storm drain added to its danger.
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51. Panicked Government WhatsApps—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Last Friday
WhatsApp messages between Department of Infrastructure staff were told to the jury today.
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50. Copycat fears—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Last Thursday
The bars on the storm drain that Noah entered are now closer together.
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49. Other culvert deaths—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 29 Apr 2026
The jury hears of the tragic death of a man trapped in a culvert during flooding in 2007.
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48. ‘Sensitive’ legal issue—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tue 28 Apr 2026
Evidence was delayed while lawyers dealt with a sensitive matter away from the jury.
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47. Witness in handcuffs—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Mon 27 Apr 2026
Key witness Daryl Paul is serving a prison sentence.
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46. Daryl Paul’s enemy—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Fri 24 Apr 2026
An enemy of the key witness who stole Noah’s laptop will not appear at the inquest.
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45.The laptop thief—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Thu 23 Apr 2026
The man who tried to sell Noah’s laptop gave evidence to the inquest.
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44. Heroin assault claims—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 22 Apr 2026
A witness told police she’d heard Noah was injected with heroin the day he disappeared.
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43. Evidence delayed—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tue 21 Apr 2026
Legal arguments dominated the day in Court 12.
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42. 'Search not rescue'—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Mon 20 Apr 2026
A Home Office risk assessment found it unlikely that Noah would be in the storm drain.
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41. Hostile crowds?—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Thu 16 Apr 2026
Just how angry was the crowd that gathered in Linear Park to help search for Noah?
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40.Witness protection—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 15 Apr 2026
Today another potential witness had his anonymity at the inquest secured.
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39. Juror sick—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tue 14 Apr 2026
The 11th week of evidence hit a road bump today when the jury couldn’t sit.
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38. Time of death—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Mon 13 Apr 2026
An expert witness says Noah likely died around two hours after he was reported missing.
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37. Recap 10 weeks of evidence—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Tara and Declan recap the ten weeks of evidence at the inquest.
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36. Arguments in court—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The jury wasn’t present today, as barristers made legal arguments.
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35. Juror discharged—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Mon 30 Mar 2026
The jury foreperson was sent home after recognising a witness.
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34. Coroner's warning to police witness—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Thu 26 Mar 2026
The Coroner warns a police witness about the potential of incriminating himself.
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33. Failure of basic policing—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 25 Mar 2026
The police officer who missed CCTV footage of part of Noah’s journey gave evidence.
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32. Classified Information—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Tue 24 Mar 2026
The jury hears how classified maps were dealt with by police.
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31. Twist in 'missed' CCTV story—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Mon 23 Mar 2026
The camera pointing towards the storm drain was spotted by police.
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30. The mystery of Noah's Instagram—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Thu 19 Mar 2026
Three members of a family deny trying to freeze Noah’s Instagram account.
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29. Drug testing dead bodies—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 18 Mar 2026
Two scientists gave evidence about the issue of the toxicology reports.
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28. What we can’t tell you—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Fri 13 Mar 2026
Legal arguments dominated the day in court.
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27. Were drugs involved?—The Noah Donohoe Inquest
Wed 11 Mar 2026
Pathologists are asked if drugs could have been involved in Noah’s death.
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