PSNI tried to contact author, Noah Donohoe inquest hears

Interpol assisted police in Northern Ireland with efforts to contact the author Jordan Peterson during the investigation into the disappearance of Noah Donohoe, an inquest has heard.

The 14-year-old schoolboy's body was found in a water tunnel six days after his disappearance in north Belfast in June 2020.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) attempted to contact Peterson because of a digital imprint linked to the Canadian psychology professor which appeared on Noah's phone history on the day of his disappearance.

The PSNI made international enquiries after they learned about Noah's interest in one of Peterson's books.

Karen Curran, a former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Detective Constable in the PSNI, told the inquest that the PSNI wanted to "bottom out" their enquiries around the digital imprint because they were aware that Noah had been "very enthused" by Peterson's book.

Noah was carrying the book in his rucksack on the day of his disappearance.

It ultimately transpired that an Instagram message, which left the digital imprint on Noah's phone about an hour before he left his home on 21 June 2020, was a message from Peterson's daughter commenting on Father's Day.

The message was not sent to Noah's phone, and it's not known why it left an imprint on the digital history of his device.

However, the inquest heard about extensive international police efforts to contact Peterson to try to establish information about the contents of the message.

The PSNI began enquiries into the matter in August 2020 and finally received a message in January 2021 stating that there were no outgoing messages on Peterson's Instagram account on the relevant date, 21 June 2020.

However, the inquest was told that prior to the conclusion of lengthy international enquiries into the matter, the PSNI had received the support of the Canadian High Commission in London, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and Interpol.

International police teams learned during their enquiries on behalf of the PSNI that Peterson had been ill in a hospital in Serbia after contracting Covid in August 2020, the inquest was told.

The hearing was also told that police in Canada had gone to Peterson's home and to the University of Toronto during a period when international investigators were unable to get a response from the author.

At the inquest on Thursday, a barrister for Noah's mother, Fiona Donohoe, questioned the witness, Karen Curran, about the extent of the police enquires into the matter including the involvement of Interpol.

Curran explained that PSNI investigators were anxious to try to find out if there had been any contact between Noah and Peterson because of the boy's known interest in the book '12 Rules for Life'.

She said the police wanted to know if Peterson could potentially provide any information about the matter that could assist their investigation.

The conclusion of the international enquiries confirmed that there was no social media contact between Peterson and Noah Donohoe.

The coroner Mr Justice Rooney and the jury have also been told that a civilian witness has now accepted that he gave inaccurate evidence to the inquest.

Connor McConnell provided a new statement on Thursday after a woman rejected his claim that she alerted him about the missing boy before the police issued an appeal for information about Noah.

The schoolboy went missing on the evening of 21 June 2020 and the police issued a public appeal for information in the early hours of the following morning.

McConnell appeared at the inquest on two previous occasions and insisted that he contacted the police on the night of Noah's disappearance with information about the case.

He first appeared in February when he outlined how he was at his mother's house at Northwood Road in north Belfast when he observed the schoolboy cycling naked along the street on the day of his disappearance.

McConnell then explained that he contacted the police that night after seeing a Facebook post from a "colleague" with a photograph of Noah.

However, it was explained to the witness in February that the PSNI had not published details about Noah's disappearance until the early hours of the following morning.

The witness was then asked to write down the name of the "colleague" on note paper and it was handed to the court to allow the coroner's office to make enquires about the matter.

McConnell was recalled to the inquest in May when it emerged that the person whose name he provided to the coroner made a statement to the inquest saying she never made any Facebook posting about the disappearance of Noah Donohoe.

When McConnell was questioned about this development during a subsequent appearance at the inquest in May he said he made a mistake when he was writing the name at the February hearing.

He told the inquest that he meant to write down the name of another friend with a similar surname.

He was then asked to write down the name of the second person he was referring to, and the note paper was passed to the coroner.

McConnell was also asked to clarify that he was certain that the new name he provided to the coroner was the correct name.

The coroner's office subsequently contacted the second woman whose name was provided by McConnell in May, and she provided a statement to the coroner stating that she never made any social media posting on the 21 June 2020 about the disappearance of Noah Donohoe that day.

McConnell then made a new statement to the inquest, and it was read out at the hearing on Thursday.

He explained that at the time of his original statements he "wholeheartedly" believed "my recollection to be truthful".

However, he went on the say that over time memories can "skew or become ineffective and inaccurate".

McConnell then accepted that his recollection of events at the time "must be inaccurate" and he now accepts that he must have contacted the police on Monday evening, 22 June 2020, and not the night before as he had previously claimed at the inquest

He apologised to the Inquest for any inconvenience.

McConnell was not present at the inquest on Thursday when his new statement was read into the record.