Teenager Noah Donohoe looked ‘startled’ as he picked up his bicycle from the road and dropped his jacket in the minutes before he disappeared, an inquest has heard.

Noah, who loved music and reading, disappeared on June 21 2020 after leaving his home in Belfast, Northern Ireland on his bike.

The 14-year-old was last seen close to a storm drain on Northwood Road in the north of the city at around 6pm. His body was found 600 metres downstream close to the M2 motorway six days later.

At an inquest at Belfast Coroner’s Court, the jury of nine men and two women were read a statement from witness Sinead Quinn regarding a sighting of the teen that she gave to police in May 2021.

She told officers that she saw a young man she was ‘certain’ Noah picking up his bike in the street on the evening he disappeared – and that he looked ‘startled’ as she sounded his horn to alert him to the fact he had dropped his jacket. 

He cycled off without retrieving it.

‘I remember it was Father’s Day last year as I had went to get my father a present,’ Ms Quinn said in the statement, read out by Mr Declan Quinn BL.

‘I was driving. We went to Lidl and Asda on the Shore Road. It was just as the shop was closing, around 6pm.

‘As I was about to turn right onto North Queen Street, I saw a young male picking a bike up off the road.

‘I saw he had dropped a khaki coat. I beeped the horn. He looked at the coat and looked at me. He looked startled and cycled on.’

Noah Donohoe with his mother Fiona, who is still hoping for answers over her son’s death six years on

Noah Donohoe disappeared on June 21 2020 in Belfast and was found in a storm drain six days later

Fiona Donohoe arriving at Belfast Coroner’s Court on Wednesday morning for the continuing inquest into her son’s death

She did not see if he had been injured – and contacted the police when an appeal was issued for information following Noah’s disappearance.

‘I am certain it was Noah I saw. The bike and coat were the same,’ she added.

Asked further about her call to the police by Fiona Donohoe’s barrister Brenda Campbell KC, Ms Quinn said she had not seen Noah fall and could not say whether he was hurt – having told police she was ‘not sure if he banged his head’.

She replied that she may have said that in response to a police information appeal at the time, that referenced a possible head injury.

‘All I could tell for certain was that he was picking up his bike,’ she added.

A second witness called today, Nathan Montgomery, then told the hearing he had seen a young cyclist on the road who seemed ‘unsteady’ at around 6pm on June 21.

Mr Montgomery had been out picking up takeaway food – and on his return journey saw the same cyclist again. He attributed his ‘unsteady’ riding to inexperience.

‘I slowed down to his speed as he appeared to sway out from the pavement toward the middle of the lane and back in a couple of times,’ he said.

‘This did not appear exaggerated, only slight, it was enough to make me wary of passing the cyclist.

‘I waited for the oncoming lane to be completely clear before passing the cyclist. I assumed his swaying out from the pavement to be lack of experience on a bicycle and nothing else.

‘It did stick in my mind that he appeared unsteady.’

Mr Montgomery said he gave a statement to police after they called to his home later in the week seeking information about Noah and spoke to his wife.

Noah’s inquest comes almost six years after his death following dedicated campaigning from his mother Fiona to ensure she gets answers for her son. 

It opened last week with a warning to the jury not to rely on anything they had read in the press or on social media regarding the case. 

Ms Donohoe said in a pre-recorded video statement: ‘My Noah was a beautiful, happy and much-loved soul.

‘I am tormented with the thought that any part of his legacy could be tainted by rumour and suspicion about who he was or what happened to him.’

Yesterday, jurors were shown CCTV footage of Noah’s journey across Belfast after leaving his home on Fitzroy Avenue.

Non-continuous clips showed him cycling from the south to the north of the city. In the final footage, on Northwood Road, Noah was seen cycling naked.

Witness, Donna Blain, told yesterday’s hearing she had seen a boy matching Noah’s description crouching at the driver-side wheel arch of a silver Ford Fiesta – his bicycle on the ground.

Ms Blain said his jacket was also on the ground, and that he looked ’embarrassed’ as he cycled off. 

Asked if Noah had sustained any injuries, she said: ‘I didn’t notice any cuts or bruises.’ 

Police searching a drain near Seaview Park in Belfast on June 24 2020, three days before Noah was found nearby 

Noah’s death caused heartbreak in the local community, which had turned out in force to help look for him (pictured: a vigil held on June 28 2020)

The hearing also heard from the schoolboy’s friend Charlie Rocks, who said Noah was ‘going through something… a good thing, a transitional thing in his mental health’ before he had gone missing.

Noah had sent a message reading ‘sad boi hours’ on June 5, of which Mr Rocks said: ‘He was just a little upset and down and that happens, it’s okay.’

The friend described Noah as ‘always reading’, that his favourite book was 1984 and that he had developed an interest in the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, even offering to lend Mr Rocks a copy of his book, 12 Rules for Life.

Mr Rocks added: ‘He never mentioned to me anything about storm drains or going underground or being in tunnels. If he had have been interested in these things, he would have talked about them.

‘He appeared to be upbeat and was looking forward to ending lockdown. He never appeared to be down or depressed, and only mentioned once to me that he was feeling blue.’

Earlier, Noah had been described as ‘bright, intelligent, witty, engaged, diligent and considerate’ by David Strange, head of music at St Malachy’s College where the teen had been a student.

His cello teacher, Andrew Nesbitt, noted that Noah ‘didn’t seem as cheerful’ and ‘wasn’t his usual animated self’ when lessons moved from in-person to remote during the coronavirus lockdown. 

The teen had sent messages to his friends on June 19 – two days before he disappeared – in which he said he had been ‘really up and down the past few days’.

‘I realise that has taken a toll on me. But I’m fine now and I’m sorry if I’ve been really cold with you,’ Noah had said.

‘Talking to you has probably been the thing that has helped me the most in the past few days.’

Jay Tierney, another of Noah’s friends, said the teen had been ‘very excited for the future, very happy, very energetic’ in the days before he disappeared.

The inquest, before Mr Justice Rooney, continues.