The Stormont branch will not be prosecuted over the death of Noah Donohoe, the court has been told

A final decision has been made not to prosecute a Stormont department for corporate manslaughter over the death of schoolboy Noah Donohoe, a court has heard.

Noah, 14, was found dead in a Department of Infrastructure (DFI) storm drain in north Belfast in 2020, six days after he went missing.

His mother Fiona Donohoe hopes to get answers to some questions surrounding her son’s death through the inquest.

Mrs Donohoe was at the Royal Courts Thursday in Belfast for the final preliminary hearing in the long-running case.

The full investigation is expected to take place next year.

In 2021, police launched an investigation into suspected corporate manslaughter in relation to the way DFI managed access to the drainage network.

In 2022, the PSNI passed a file on to the Public Prosecution Service, which decided not to press charges against the department.

However, at the request of Ms Donohoe’s legal team, it was decided to review that decision.

Providing an update to the court on Thursday, coroner’s counsel Peter Coll QC said a letter had been sent from the Crown Prosecution Service to the coroner’s office on October 25 “regarding the finalization of the decision not to prosecute DFI”.

A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service confirmed that the original decision not to prosecute had been upheld.

The spokesperson said: “In accordance with the review procedure set out in the Public Prosecution Service Code for Prosecutors, a senior prosecutor has considered all available evidence and reapplied the test for prosecution.

“The information taken into account included all evidence from the police investigation file, advice from a senior lawyer independent of the Crown Prosecution Service and a new report from a health and safety expert.

“All evidence was viewed solely from the perspective of whether any action by the department amounted to criminal conduct.”

The spokesperson added: “Following this trial it was determined that the evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and therefore the original decision not to prosecute is upheld.

“We wrote to Ms Donohoe in July 2024 to explain the detailed reasons for the outcome of the review, and offered to answer any further questions.

“We assured Ms Donohoe that the decision was only made after the most careful and impartial consideration of all available evidence, the circumstances of the case and all relevant legal issues.”

During the lengthy hearing, Mr Coll briefed the court on a number of issues relating to the disclosure process and the preparation of expert reports prior to the full investigation.

Ms Donohoe’s counsel, Brenda Campbell KC, also told the court about a photo of a hand found on Noah’s phone, believed to have been taken the night he went missing.

At an earlier hearing, Campbell said an expert had discovered the image and it was suspected the phone had been in someone else’s possession after Noah went missing.

At the latest hearing, she said: “It appears there is no dispute about the timing of the photo, or whether it is unlikely a photo was taken on his phone at that time.

“But we don’t yet have answers to the who, why and where questions from those working on it within the PSNI.

“We can’t move forward with our expert report until we have some of those answers.”

PSNI counsel Donal Lunny KC said he was hopeful written answers could be provided in the coming week.

The inquest into Noah’s death was originally due to take place last year but was postponed after a ruling that it should be heard by a jury, at Ms Donohoe’s request.

The original coroner, Joe McCrisken, has since recused himself from the case. The inquest will now be heard by Mr Justice Rooney.

A provisional date for the inquest has been set for February 3 next year, but it is not expected to be ready to proceed on that date.

Judge Rooney said he would review the progress of the case before Christmas.