By Tony O’Reilly-
A crowdfunding campaign for a documentary examining the circumstances of the death of Noah Donohoe has reached its target of £150,000 in donations from the public, exceeding it by £7,000 in just 4 weeks.
The 14-year-old was tragically found dead in a storm drain in 2020 after being missing for six days.
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The initiative was led by Dublin-based journalist Donal MacIntyre at the request of Noah’s mother Fiona Donohoe.
A high-profile team of experts has now been assembled, including the former Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll who solved the Stephen Lawrence case, Scotland Yard Detective Andy Crocker and Professor Emeritus of Criminology, David Wilson.
Councillor, Raymond Barr, has also organised a charity football match on August 5. Strabane Football Club will play Belfast Celtic in support of the crowdfunder. A live music event has also been organised to take place in Lurgan Celtic Supporters’ Club on the same evening.
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Responding to the Crowdfunder’s success, MacIntyre said: “Our investigative team are extremely humbled by the groundswell of support for this campaign, with donations as small as a pound and as much as £5,000.
“It is a testament to the public’s demand for independent and objective journalism as much as huge concern over the circumstances surrounding Noah Donohoe’s death, aged just 14, in a storm drain in Belfast in the summer of 2020,” he added.
“We remain ever grateful to the support and encouragement given by Noah’s family, friends and supporters and we look forward to completing our investigation and to bringing it into the public domain after the inquest.”
The formal inquest was due to start last year, but has been delayed over issues relating to CCTV footage around Noah’s home and forensic toxicology reports.
A recent major development in the case had emerged when CCTV footage showed Noah leaving his home in the pouring rain at 3.30am on the day he disappeared.
He was reportedly wearing a T-shirt, shorts, flip-flops and carrying headphones.
Returning home by 4.05am, he appears to be soaking wet and without his headphones or flip-flops.
On the day of his disappearance, Noah left his home again at 5.30pm to cycle to the north of the city, where he had been spotted naked on his bike.
Ms Donohoe has no idea why her son would have left their apartment in the early hours, but had speculated on whether he could have been involved in some form of county lines activity without her knowledge
The Eye Of Media.Com will be closely following developments in this story, and providing every possible support to the family
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