A final decision not to prosecute a Stormont department for corporate manslaughter over the death of schoolboy Noah Donohoe has been taken, a court has heard.
Noah, 14, was found dead in a storm drain owned by the Department of Infrastructure (DFI) in north Belfast in 2020, six days after he went missing.
His mother Fiona Donohoe is hoping to secure answers to some of the questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process.
Ms Donohoe was at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on Thursday for the latest preliminary hearing in the long-running case.
The full inquest is expected to take place next year.
In 2021, police launched an investigation into suspected corporate manslaughter in relation to how DFI managed access to the drain network.
Fiona Donohoe is hoping to find answers surrounding the death of her son, Noah (Mark Marlow/PA)
In 2022, the PSNI passed a file onto the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) which decided not to pursue charges against the department.
However, it then decided to review that decision following a request from Ms Donohoe’s legal team.
Providing an update to court on Thursday, counsel to the coroner Peter Coll KC said a letter had been sent from the PPS to the coroner’s service on October 25 “relating to the finalisation of the decision not to prosecute DFI”.
A spokesperson for the PPS confirmed the original decision not to prosecute had been upheld.
The spokesperson said: “In line with the review procedure set out in the PPS Code for Prosecutors, a senior public prosecutor considered all the available evidence and applied the test for prosecution afresh.
“The information considered included all the evidence in the police investigation file, the advice of a senior barrister independent of the PPS and a new report by a health and safety expert.
“All the evidence was considered solely from the perspective of whether any action by the department amounted to criminal conduct.”
The spokesperson added: “Following this process, 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 address any further questions she may have.
“We assured Ms Donohoe that the decision was taken only after the most careful and impartial consideration of all the available evidence, the circumstances of the case and all relevant legal issues.”
During the lengthy review hearing, Mr Coll updated the court on a number of issues relating to the disclosure process and preparation of expert reports ahead of the full inquest.
Brenda Campbell KC represents Fiona Donohoe at the inquest hearing (Liam McBurney/PA)
Counsel for Ms Donohoe, Brenda Campbell KC, also updated the court on a photograph of a hand found on Noah’s phone believed to have been taken on the night he went missing.
During a previous hearing, Ms Campbell said an expert had discovered the image and it raised the prospect that the phone had been in the possession of someone else after Noah went missing.
During the latest hearing, she said: “It seems that there is no dispute as to the timing of the photograph, or there is unlikely to be a dispute that a photograph was taken on his phone at that time.
“But as to the who, why, and where questions, we don’t yet have a response from those that are working on it within the PSNI.
“We won’t be able to progress with our expert’s report until we have some of those answers.”
Counsel for the PSNI Donal Lunny KC said he was hopeful that written answers could be provided in the next week.
The inquest into Noah’s death was originally scheduled to take place last year but was then delayed after a ruling that it should proceed with a jury, following an application from Ms Donohoe.
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 that it will be ready to proceed on that date.
Mr Justice Rooney said he would review progress in the case again before Christmas.