Noah Donohoe: the latest news is very bad

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

Many Mumsnetters will have already seen and kindly supported my threads and those of others about the disappearance and death of young Noah Donohoe in Belfast in June 2020. For those who haven't, Noah's naked body was retrieved from a drain after he had been missing for 6 days. Two years later, his grieving mother Fiona, with her sister Niamh at her side, is still having to fight for the truth about her adored son's disappearance and death and for justice for him.

Yesterday, Fiona was given official notice by the government/NIO that a Public Interest Immunity Certificate has been granted. It was signed by the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire. This means that the police/PSNI are allowed to keep hundreds of pages of information from their botched investigation into the disappearance and death of this innocent and precious child secret. It was received by the police/PSNI and Crown Solicitors Office on the 19th July and his mother was not told for over a week.

Mr Vara was appointed after Brandon Lewis resigned from Boris Johnson's cabinet. He has only been in his post as NI Secretary for two weeks. This is not a good start. Signing the PII Certificate so swiftly indicates to me that he has not taken due time and care to learn all the facts in Noah's case. I think anyone who concludes from this that Mr Vara is just a government and police puppet could be forgiven.

For those Mumsnetters not in Northern Ireland who believe that PII Certificates don't concern you, a PII Certificate application from the police/PSNI protected Robert Howard, a known prolific and violent child killer and rapist. It allowed him to travel to England, Scotland and Ireland. He was only brought to justice when he raped and killed a child in Kent. This is only one example of many.

If you are not outraged, then you have not been paying attention. What can you do? Please think about this and do what you can. Please join us in raising awareness about Noah on social media, with your own government representatives and mainstream media. If you want to contact Shailesh Vara directly about Noah's case:
//members.parliament.uk/member/1496/contact
Email at NIO: [email protected]
He is also on Twitter:
//twitter.com/ShaileshVara

Here is a factual and reliable pinned Twitter thread for people new to Noah's story or wanting to know more:
//mobile.twitter.com/MarymoBelfast/status/1370453351616425985
Here is Fiona's podcast:

Here is a Channel 4 News report:
//www.channel4.com/news/noah-donohoe-family-seek-answers-over-belfast-teenagers-death
And please, if you haven't already, do still join the 309,146 people who have showed they care by signing Fiona's petition. Link in the OP of this thread:
//www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4573833-noah-donohoe-his-mothers-fight-for-the-truth-and-justice-please-help-stop-the-police-coroner-and-brandon-lewis-from-keeping-investigation-files-into-the-death-of-a-child-secret-thread-3?

Thank you sincerely for reading and for your support. 💙

TLDR:
As Marion Wright Edelman said, if we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much. Shame on you, Shailesh Vara. AIBU?

[vivainsomnia]

Do we know in which circumstances PII certificates are granted? Are there some criteria around applying them or is it just down to the secretary of State to decide as they see fit?

[StoneofDestiny]

Been keeping up with this on here - is there no way you can get a decent journalist/TV investigative reporter interested in this. I sounds so important and clearly in the public interest.

[EmeraldShamrock1]

I'm truly shocked.

I stupidly thought they'd be cautious of signing while people were watching and would finally allow justice.

[EmeraldShamrock1]

The Sunday world done a report recently.

I hope they run the story again.

They're not frightened of upsetting a few people.

Unfortunately they have brazenly used PII in previous cases, no lessons learned.

[WatermelonWaveclub]

I would like to understand more about the PII certificate. What is the purpose of them and when are they usually used? Being used in a case of a child's death just doesn't seem right.

Thoughts with Noah's family 💐

[Skelligsfeathers]

Has anybody any idea why the information is being withheld? Is it because it is likely to cause a storm of sectarian violence or something? It is dodgy as fuck and they must be aware that everyone can see it is dodgy as fuck.

[catandcoffee]

So very sorry to hear this news.. I've been following Noah's tragic story.

[IncompleteSenten]

People will draw their own conclusions from that.

Mine is that there must be ample evidence of, at the very least, a horrific fuck up at high levels.

It's not in the public interest to know how badly the police fucked up.

Yeah.

Except that is information the public has an absolute right to know.

Can this be challenged or can they just hide their failures for ever?

[catandcoffee]

@Skelligsfeathers they don't care we are watching and following.

[catandcoffee]

Reading about this awful story...no way would you realise its happening in the UK.

Not China or those other communist countries but here in the so called civilised UK.

[Sapphirensteel]

emailed asking who they are hiding and why. We all know murderers frequently repeat their crimes so other children are not safe.
And why when everyone else is given answers in a murder investigation is Noah’s mother treated so differently and so cruelly.

[Floisme]

I will hold up my hands - I haven't been giving this my full attention but I've been meaning to rectify that for a while.

Thanks for the thread and my best wishes to Noah's family and supporters.

[FlippinOmicron]

Where the hell are the politicians- why are they not shouting from the roof tops about this ?
Where are the wonderful investigative journalists from RTE's current affairs department ?
Can the EU do anything ?

[TimeAfterTime1]

😡
💙🙏🏾

[Xiaoxiong]

I've just written to my MP too. He's a Tory, and mixed race himself - one would hope this might just catch his attention (though he's currently going bankrupt, so who knows whether he'll be an MP for much longer).

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

Thank you @Xiaoxiong 💙

[WatermelonWaveclub]

I've watched the podcast. From what I understand Noah's mother believes there could be paramilitary involvement. The police have said there was no foul play - but in that case what have they got to hide?

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

Thank you @TimeAfterTime1 💙

[durellh]

it's an outrage

[mathanxiety]

@EmeraldShamrock1 they have unfortunately learned from previous PII cases that they can get away with them, that nobody is going to hold them accountable in any meaningful way.

NI is a part of the UK where shady things are done with impunity. MPs from distant English constituencies who are appointed to the NI post will never be held accountable for egregious dereliction of duty by their constituents in the shires.

[Harridan1981]

I'm dumbfounded

[mathanxiety]

@FlippinOmicron why would MPs from anywhere outside of NI bother?

No, thanks to Brexit the EU can do nothing.

Not sure what the answer is about the lack of investigation by journalists, but it's possible they have been warned off, or the price of information is too high.

[ThirtyThreeTrees]

This stinks to the high heavens.

If there's nothing to hide or cover up, than a PII wouldn't be needed to cover up anything.

There is just no way that a child voluntarily stripped himself naked, abandoned his belongings and voluntarily went to a storm train that he didn't even know existed. There are so many other aspects of this case that don't ring true.

It's disgusting, insulting and wrong except people to believe otherwise.

I cannot imagine how Noah's family & friends feel. It's difficult enough to deal with the loss of a child. To have that loss, compounded by this is inhumane. My hearts goes out to them.

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

why would MPs from anywhere outside of NI bother?
I think the point is to raise awareness and to prevent secrecy. NI is part of the UK and the island of Ireland. Noah's story is also becoming known internationally. Some MPs, the ones who care about children, women and about justice, will care about what one of their colleagues has done. He sits amongst them. Some of them will realise that this does not look good for the government and the Conservative Party. Some of them will realise that this makes other children less safe in the future, not just in NI but in England and elsewhere too - see the Robert Howard case in my OP.

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

@StoneofDestiny

Been keeping up with this on here - is there no way you can get a decent journalist/TV investigative reporter interested in this. I sounds so important and clearly in the public interest.

Thank you. I agree and let's hope a few of them are reading or are shown this thread by the decent Mumsnetters in their lives! 💙