Noah Donohoe's body 'badly contaminated' when found

Noah Donohoe's body was badly contaminated when it was recovered from an underground water tunnel in north Belfast, an inquest has heard. Trevor Cooke, a PSNI major crime forensics adviser, told the hearing he went to the scene after the 14-year-old's body was found almost a week after he went missing in June 2020. He explained that search and rescue teams and officers had left the storm drain at that stage due to a rising tide level and the body had been placed above ground. Cooke said the boy's body was "badly contaminated with dirty water and dirt" and there were "scuff marks" at the boy's knees and elbows. He explained that a crime scene investigator took nail scrapings and head hair combings. Cooke told the inquest the pathologist who conducted a post-mortem examination requested a water sample the following day. He explained he did not seek a water sample on the day Noah's body was found because he was confined to an overground space where Noah's body was placed, and it would not have been safe to go into the storm drain. "At that time, it wasn't considered," Cooke said. Emphasising the dangers due to the tide level, he stressed: "We couldn't go in, full stop". Cooke also out