A witness has told the Noah Donohoe inquest that she heard two screams on the night the schoolboy went missing.

Noah, a pupil of St Malachy’s College, was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.

Tanya Brown lives at Premier Drive in north Belfast, close to the area where Noah disappeared.

Her witness statement was read to Belfast Coroner’s Court where Ms Brown said she was sleeping at around midnight on the night of June 21 2020.

placeholder image — Noah Donohoe with his mum Fiona

She said: “I was lying in my bed reading. It was a warm night, so I had my bedroom window lying wide open.

“I heard what sounded like a scream, but it didn’t sound as if it was close by, it sounded like it was some distance away. It sounded like a girl screaming.”

She said she woke up her husband, who was sleeping downstairs, and went outside.

She said: “We both went into the back garden, my bedroom looks out onto my back garden, and this is where I heard the scream come from. We stood in the garden, and that’s when I heard the second scream.”

She said she stood outside for about five minutes before coming back inside.

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Meanwhile, a police officer gave an account of some of the events surrounding the disappearance of Noah Donohoe that was “materially different” to that of the schoolboy’s mother, a barrister has told the inquest.

One of the constables involved in the search for Noah gave evidence to the inquest for a second day. Proceedings began with discussion about a statement made by the constable in January 2021.

In the statement, the officer said Ms Donohoe described Noah as “very weepy” before he went missing and said she had requested his school arrange counselling for him.

Brenda Campbell KC, who represents Noah’s mother Fiona, said this had not featured in his notes or the police log from the period when Noah was missing.

The court was shown a transcript of Ms Donohoe’s 999 call on Sunday June 21 2020 and from her statement to the inquest. Ms Campbell said the constable’s statement gave a “materially different” account of events to that which Ms Donohoe had given in her evidence.

The officer said the statement was based on his recollection from the time.