Belfast Coroner’s Court played recordings of two anonymous calls to police during the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe. The calls, made on June 24 and 25 2020, reported an attempt by Daryl Paul to sell a laptop linked to the missing schoolboy.

Noah Donohoe, a pupil at St Malachy’s College, left home on his bike on June 21 2020 to meet friends in the Cavehill area of north Belfast. His naked body was found six days later in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast. A post-mortem examination determined the cause of death was likely drowning.

Fiona Donohoe, Noah’s mother, has attended the inquest each day. The jury hearing, now in its 10th week, resumed on Monday afternoon with evidence from anonymous witnesses.

Witness AC2 stated in a read-out account that he met witness AC3 through online bingo during the June 2020 lockdown. AC3 visited AC2 at his father’s flat on June 21 2020 when Daryl Paul of Cliftonville Avenue arrived to sell a laptop. Paul claimed he found it at the Arts College in Belfast.

AC2 noted the laptop lacked a charger and declined to buy it. AC3 and Paul left together. Days later AC3 told AC2 the laptop matched the one Noah carried when he went missing. After consulting another friend they reported it to police.

AC3 gave evidence and denied making the calls after hearing the recordings. She rejected claims by AC2 and Paul that she contacted police. The first call described Paul with a plastic bag holding a rucksack, laptop, green North Face coat and school book bearing Noah Donohoe’s name. The caller voiced worry about Paul’s knowledge of Noah’s location.

The second call raised concern that police had not followed up on the prior report. Counsel to the coroner Peter Coll asked AC3 about the second call. She said she was unaware of it until that day.

Daryl Paul previously pleaded guilty to stealing a rucksack with Noah’s laptop and school books. The inquest continues.