A senior PSNI officer has told an inquest that mistakes by police left the mother of Noah Donohoe without answers about her son's death.

Detective Chief Inspector Phillips, the senior investigating officer, gave evidence at Belfast Coroners Court. He acknowledged that failures, including not retrieving all relevant CCTV footage, meant Fiona Donohoe continued to wonder what happened.

Noah Donohoe, a 14-year-old St Malachy's College pupil, died in June 2020. His naked body was found in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast, six days after he went missing. A post-mortem concluded he drowned.

DCI Phillips said he should have challenged the account given by the boy's mother more thoroughly and looked more closely at Noah's home life in the days before he disappeared.

He expressed regret that his relationship with Fiona Donohoe deteriorated, saying he was truly sorry for his part in that. The officer said the case had attracted intense public speculation, with rumours of kidnapping and murder circulating.

He agreed that the investigation had not found out where Noah went during a trip from his home in the early hours of the day he went missing, or why certain items of his clothing were in a particular state.

The inquest has heard from 76 witnesses over 20 weeks. Counsel for the coroner and for the family pressed DCI Phillips on the many unanswered questions. He frequently replied that he did not know.

The officer maintained that police had done everything they could to find Noah quickly once he was reported missing, but admitted that information was missed.