The coroner at the Noah Donohoe inquest has told the jury that their verdict must be based “solely on the evidence you have heard and seen in this court”.

The inquest has been examining 14-year-old Noah’s disappearance and death in north Belfast just over six years ago on 21 June 2020.

The schoolboy was naked at the time.

During a lengthy summing up, which began on Thursday morning, Mr Justice Rooney told the eight men and two women on the jury that they must exclude several theories from their verdict.

After five months of evidence, the coroner stressed that there has been no evidence to support some potential findings.

He underlined this by excluding several possibilities.

Rooney told the jury that they are not permitted to find:

The coroner emphasised that there has been no evidence, or not enough evidence, presented at the inquest to support a verdict in line with any of these possibilities or that Noah had suffered an acute mental health experience.

Commenting on some expert evidence which indicated that drugs could degrade and disappear from the system if a body was not found for several days, Rooney told the jury: “that’s not enough” to conclude that there were any drugs in Noah’s system.

He also reminded the jury that there has been no evidence of Noah being assaulted by anyone during his bicycle ride before he went missing, and he said they can’t deliver a verdict stating that he was assaulted by anyone including Daryl Paul, the man who was jailed for stealing the boy’s missing laptop.

The coroner explained that CCTV evidence at the inquest demonstrated that Paul could not have had any interaction with Noah from the time the schoolboy left his south Belfast home until he disappeared at Northwood Road on the other side of the city about twenty-five minutes later.

At the beginning of his summing-up, known as his charge to the jury, Rooney said the death of Noah Donohoe has left a hole in the lives of his family and friends.

He told the jury that Noah was “loved by his family and friends” and that “his tragic death has left a hole in their lives”.

Rooney also referred to how Noah’s mother Fiona had described how she and her only son had “a magical bond” which has endured even after Noah’s death.

The coroner went on to tell the jury they must ignore any rumours, speculation, theories, or anything else they have heard or seen outside the inquest.

He said they must put everything other than the evidence at the inquest out of their minds when reaching a verdict.

The coroner said the jury cannot find anyone at fault or apportion blame in their inquest verdict.

The jury was also shown CCTV footage which showed Noah naked as he cycled on a footpath outside houses close to where he disappeared.

His mother, Fiona, who sat alone in a corner at the back of the courtroom during the summing-up, left the hearing while the brief recording of the CCTV footage was played in the courtroom.

Rooney also reminded the jury that while most of Noah’s possessions and clothing were found, some items are still missing.

“We do not know what happened to Noah’s shorts and boxers,” he said.

His coat has also been missing since the day of his disappearance.

Rooney also stressed that the jury should arrive at their verdict by considering how things were at the time of Noah’s disappearance and death, and not with the benefit of hindsight.

The coroner also instructed the jury that their answers to the questions they are asked to consider must be unanimous.

The Judge’s charge to the jury comes after 62 days of evidence across a five-month period.

Since the end of January, the jury has heard evidence from 76 witnesses who took the stand in court or via video link while a further 42 witness statements were read out in court.

Noah Donohoe went missing after cycling across the city from his home off the Lower Ormeau Road in South Belfast.

He was last seen at Northwood Road in north Belfast close to waste ground where a culvert entrance to an underground water system is located.

He had abandoned his bicycle and was naked at the time.

The 14-year-old’s body was found six days later more than 600 metres downstream in the tunnel system.

The inquest has now adjourned and the coroner’s summing-up to the jury will resume on Monday 29 June before the jury goes out to consider its verdict.