TW. Noah. The PSNI and their failure to investigate his death?

[blackandgreen]

belfastmedia.com/what-are-the-police-hiding-in-the-noah-case
by Elly Omondi Odhiambo

Noah Donohoe was found lifeless in a storm drain on June 27, 2020. A post-mortem report declared that he died as a result of drowning. Well, because the job of the police is to look at every possible and impossible, there has been a growing number of Belfast residents wanting to know if there was a racial motivation in the death of Noah Donohoe. People want to know the truth. The more the family of Noah and public are cautioned against making so-called unsubstantiated statements, the more they hunger for the truth.The PSNI is bungling this sad case

This 14 year old set off on his bike one Sunday, two years ago now, to meet a friend. They were working on a Duke of Edinburgh award.

Six days later, his naked body was found a kilometre inside an unlocked storm drain, in a part of Belfast he did not frequent.

Apparently, the police announced that there was no foul play involved, on the very day that his body was found. Even before an autopsy took place. There still has been no Inquest.

The police version of events is that: Noah fell from his bike, sustained a head injury, removed his clothes in confusion, ditched his bike, wandered off naked into a part of the city he would not usually go into, and somehow ended up drowned a kilometre inside an ( unusually) unlocked storm drain.

I understand that Noah was of African/Irish heritage. Police have never considered a racial element in his death and disappearance. Another schoolboy a fortnight earlier, had been attacked and chased by a group of youths whilst cycling. He escaped from them only after running three miles to safety. Police did not investigate any links between the incidents.

His mother's demand for answers from the Police Service Northern Ireland appears to have been blocked by them. There is a petition requesting the release of these files.

See also
www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/noah-donohoe-senior-psni-officer-23277631

Please, if you are able, can you support his mum Fiona, and sign the petition on MN?

This has been referred to as "the PSNI's Stephen Lawrence scandal". Let us pray and hope that it is not.

Oh Fiona, my heart is in a thousand pieces. Please everyone glitch or no glitch we need to get to the 500,000 signature.

Please keep posting @TheRealMrsMac. 3am in the morning, they could have saved him if only they had been looking when Fiona phoned them. It is heart wrenching. We have to get Noah justice. Please keep signing the petition. For Noah.

@TooBigForMyBoots My blood ran cold to read that.
I don't know how Fiona can still function.
The pupils at that school must be so scared, and I'm taken back to very bad times indeed.

I remember one day back in the early days of the Stephen Lawrence campaign, wondering to myself, if the truth would ever out.

It did.

Apologies - cross-posted one tweet with TooBigForMyBoots.

This is a recent appeal for information from Fiona Donohoe, Noah's mummy.

What strikes me is that Fiona, in a similar way to Doreen Lawrence, is having to do the work the police have failed to do. A grieving mother should not have to do this.

I have signed, sadly I only heard about this via WS forum and reddit- seems people online care more than the police to find out what actually happened.

There also came a point TheRealMrsMac when Doreen and Neville mostly had all the jigsaw pieces so knew the story, yet still there were corrupt officers in the way of justice.

And how Duwayne, his friend, was hounded by them.

Terrible, terrible times, OP. And here we are, in 2022. I'm sure that corruption is at play here too, as well as the usual institutional racism and incompetence, and other factors specific to NI.

I've asked @Jamboree1 to come along soon to post a series of four recent tweets from Niamh Donohoe, Noah's auntie and Fiona's sister with relevant information - I'm having some tech issues doing it at the moment. I hope that's ok. Again, they need a trigger warning.

I'm sure that corruption is at play here too, as well as the usual institutional racism and incompetence, and other factors specific to NI

What a toxic mix that is.

And PSNI wants to appear more representative of the community it serves?

The petition for release of the police files has reached 304,250 when I looked on the site just now. It's heartening to see.

Please can you take time to sign if you are able. If you live in England, Wales, Scotland, island of Ireland, your signature and support means so much to this Mum.
Link to petition on the MN petitions board is here. Thanks BMN.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/human_rights/4512617-JusticeForNoahDonohoe-BrandonLewisReleaseTheFiles

Thank you, OP

Just to say, you will find a link to the petition thread somewhere on that linked to thread but here is the correct petition thread link:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/4525759--THREAD-2-Will-you-spare-five-minutes-to-help-the-lovely-Noah-Donohoe-get-the-justice-he-deserves-and-to-support-his-mummy-Fiona-in-getting-the-truth-about-what-happened-to-her-beloved-son?watched=1&msgid=116502920#116502920

Thank you, OP and all BMN 💙

This comes from a recent tweet from Fiona, Noah's mummy. It also shows a beautiful photo, both heart-warming and heart-breaking, of wee Noah. Please consider following her if you are on Twitter? Thank you, BMN. 💙

RIP Noah. His mum Fiona deserves answers.

These are the recent tweets, from Noah's auntie and Fiona's trusted sister Niamh Donohoe, I promised. I'm sorry about the delay. You will feel the frustration and anguish coming from them, I'm sure, but also the determination to get justice for Noah. Please consider following Niamh if you are on Twitter. Thank you.

I will have to split them between two posts because this is a set of four images and Mumsnet only allows three images per post.

Here are the remaining two tweets from Niamh Donohoe, as promised.

Thank you TheRealMrsMac
You can't read that without the tears coming can you?
Not so long ago, I didn't know about Noah and now I'm looking at every bit of the jigsaw.

That reference to Muir is Muir Clark, the Superintendent originally in charge of the investigation. The officer who said no foul play prior to autopsy. The officer, presumably, who went along with the decision not to pay overtime to search for Noah. Taken off the case at some point.

All these officers who get to retire on full pension ..........

Prompted by your post , blackandgreen, I googled Muir Clark .

In an interview in September 2015 , he stated :
“ It’s very easy to police a community, but that is not enough ; one has to make people have the confidence to trust the police “.

Hmmmm !

God this so appalling and so odd. Is it incompetence and subsequent cover up or something far more sinister. Anyway, signed and shared to my paltry social media followers. Is there anyone high profile tweeting this? I’m shocked I only heard of a case like this because it was on MN - I’m not in NI but I am in UK, it may be in the news in NI but a case like this, you’d have thought would be widely reported throughout the UK. Of course, there’s the obvious explanation why that might be . Thank you for posting this.

Yiayoula
I found an interview he did in 2015, way before Noah's disappearance.
sharedfuture.news/who-am-i-meet-psni-superintendent-muir-clark/
.... another achievement he mentioned was earning the trust of citizens. He said, “It’s very easy to police a community, but that is not enough; one has to make people have the confidence to trust the police

His son Peter, here, in 2013.
www.belfastdaily.co.uk/2013/01/31/revealed-top-cops-son-faces-court-on-robbery-bid-charge/

Sorry Denton, cross posted. Impressive name!

Ha! Just realised we read the same interview Yia, I need to go to specsavers.

I think it's the police, pathologist, coroner and witnesses who need to go to Specsavers, OP - make appointments for them while you're there, will you?!

There was an arson attack on the Belfast Multi Cultural Centre over a year ago. It acted as a foodbank to anyone who needed help regardless of skin colour or affiliation. No progress investigating that either.

www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/northern-ireland-race-hate-attackers-going-unpunished-one-year-no-one-charged-arson

Muhammad Atif, a trustee of Belfast Multi-Cultural Association, said:

“It is disappointing but no surprise to us that no-one has been held to account for the arson attack.

“Of course, we feel let down by the police. But that is the experience of most people in Northern Ireland who are subjected to racially-motivated hate crimes.”

“The arson attack left us heartbroken, but our work goes on and we will come back stronger.”

From the same article.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said:

“Police figures show that the vast majority of racist hate crimes in Northern Ireland go unpunished. In that respect, the arson attack on Belfast Multi-Cultural Association is sadly no different to the hundreds of racist crimes which are inflicted every year.

“In 90% of cases of racially motivated hate crime in Northern Ireland – mostly attacks on people and property – the people responsible are going unpunished. Minority ethnic communities here have every right to feel let down by the police.”

Please support the Petition for Justice for Noah. Link upthread.

Flynn Maguire, who attended the same school as Noah, was attacked in the same area as Noah disappeared a couple of weeks prior to Noah’s disappearance. He was almost killed but managed to escape as he is a cross country runner and knows the area. He bravely came forward to describe his attackers (group of boys and a man with a dog). He was denied an investigation by both the PSNi and the PSNI ombudsman. He has never had his belongings returned. Fiona has supported Flynn’s mum publicly.

I believe if Flynn had had an investigation, Noah may still be here.

Muir Clarke has not been seen in public since the week of Noah’s disappearance and death. His son Peter is said to have very questionable connections.

Simon Byrne, chief Constable of PSNI transferred to NI after being ‘cleared’ of 74 allegations of misconduct in Cheshire. His predecessor in the PSNi, Drew Harris (MI5 and former RUC) transferred to become Garda commissioner across the border. He was actively involved in cover ups of collusion… and allegedly more.

There have been many families in similar positions to Fiona sadly. Thousands are fighting for truth in NI. Noah’s and Flynn’s cases came about during so called ‘peace time’. Children and young people are still not safe on the streets of Belfast and the rest of NI for a variety of reasons.

Noah’s case is currently being treated as a coronial investigation and inquest which means that police and coroner are not actively trying pursue or prosecute anyone.

Fiona has a solicitor, Niall Murphy of KRW Law, acting pro Bono on Noah’s behalf and a barrister.

No surprise then, to find, just several days ago, another arson attack on the same premises.
www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/northern-ireland-revulsion-repeat-racist-arson-attack-belfast-multi-cultural-centre

A trustee from the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association has said he is “devastated” after another arson attack on their building on Donegall Pass in the city last night.