CCTV footage of Noah Donohoe from the morning of his disappearance, previously unseen in public, has been released by a coroner investigating his death.
Noah, 14, went missing on a Sunday evening five years ago and was found deceased six days later in a storm drain several miles from his home.
Fiona Donohoe, the teenager's mother, posted on social media questioning why the footage was only being released now and not at the time of Noah's disappearance.
New CCTV footage
Noah left his south Belfast home at 5.40pm on Sunday, June 21, 2020, telling his mother he was travelling to the Cave Hill area in north Belfast to meet friends.
CCTV captured him riding his bike through Belfast city centre, while the last known sighting of Noah was in Northwood Drive in north Belfast at 6.08pm.
On June 27, his body was found in a storm drain close to Northwood Drive.
The newly-released CCTV footage shows Noah leaving his south Belfast home at Flat 5, 65 Fitzroy Avenue in the early hours of the day he disappeared.
He exited the property on the corner of Fitzroy Avenue and Dudley Street in the Holylands / Queen's University area at around 3.34am.
Although it was damp and drizzling, Noah is seen casually dressed in dark-coloured knee-length shorts and a light or white-coloured T-shirt.
CCTV shows him wearing flip-flops and carrying over-ear headphones in his right hand.
On leaving the address, Noah appears to turn right, walking west in the direction of Queen's University.
When he is next captured on CCTV on his return home, he is on University Street, coming from the direction of Ormeau Road and walking in the direction of Queen’s University.
From there, he turns left onto Dudley Street and then right onto Fitzroy Avenue, turning immediately into his home address.
Noah re-entered through the front door of 65 Fitzroy Avenue at approximately 04.08am.
It is apparent from CCTV footage that he was barefoot on his return and neither his flip-flops nor his headphones are visible, nor have they ever been located.
'Beyond difficult'
Writing on Facebook, Fiona Donohoe questioned why the footage was not released the week Noah went missing.
She added that she was only made aware the footage existed two years after his death and claimed that the existence of the footage was leaked on social media.
"As you can imagine this is beyond difficult but it needs to be shared," she wrote, adding: "I would ask people to remember behind every death of a beloved child is a broken-hearted mother!"
Coroner Mr Justice Rooney has specifically appealed to the public for information on why Noah left his home in the early hours of that Sunday morning, where he went and whether he met anyone.
He also wants to know what happened to Noah's flip-flops and/or his headphones and whether he had been out in the early hours of the morning on any other occasion.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland on 0300 200 7811 or by email at [email protected]
An inquest into Noah's death was due to take place next month but has now been postponed until next year.
All eight CCTV videos capturing Noah leaving his home and returning in the early hours of the day he disappeared can be viewed on the Coroners Support Service YouTube page by clicking here.
See More: Noah Donohoe
