Artificial intelligence (AI) is to be used to examine hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to discover if there are incidents of Noah Donohoe leaving his home in the early hours in the days before he went missing, a court has heard.
The development came as a coroner said he is keen that a full inquest into the Belfast schoolboy’s death should be heard before the summer.
The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in the city in June 2020 – six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet up with friends.
His mother, Fiona Donohoe, is hoping to secure answers to some of the questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process.
The inquest was originally scheduled to take place in 2023 but was then delayed after a ruling that it should proceed with a jury, following an application from Ms Donohoe.
Ms Donohoe was in attendance for the latest hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on Tuesday.
During the hearing, counsel for the coroner Peter Coll KC provided an update on the progression of the disclosure of materials and expert reports.
He also said there had been previous discussion about viewing footage from CCTV cameras near Noah’s home.
The barrister said: “The background to this is that some footage did come to light that showed Noah, I think the day before his disappearance, out very early in the morning.
“That was something that came as a surprise to his mother. She was not aware of him doing activity of that nature.
“There was a concern to try and see did that form part of some kind of a pattern, or was it a one-off.”
Previously the coroner had ruled that footage from two CCTV cameras should be looked at for a period of a week from the Saturday before Noah’s disappearance.
However, the court had previously been told that it had to be viewed second by second in real time.
Mr Coll said: “Very shortly thereafter the police indicated they now have a particular AI package that could be used to facilitate and expedite that ask.”
He said legal representatives in the case have seen a demonstration of the artificial intelligence package.
He added: “The package will allow for the CCTV footage to effectively be interrogated by automated processes and to identify those extracts therein whereby a human being may be seen on the footage, which would then allow counsel to go directly to that piece of video footage and ascertain as best as possible whether it is Noah or whether it is somebody else.”
Mr Coll said there had been a “little bit of caution” from Ms Donohoe’s legal representatives about using the technology.
But he added: “The police have presented it to us on the basis that they are satisfied it will be of use.
“It is not proposed to entirely cut out the human eye but really to pinpoint those elements of the footage where there may be anything of potential relevance.”
Malachy McGowan, barrister for Ms Donohoe, said: “The court should understand the caution felt by the next of kin in relation to using novel technology, particularly against the background circumstances of this case.
“But we are confident progress can be made.”
The coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, agreed that the AI package should be used, describing it as an “essential first step”.
He also said he wanted to move towards setting a date for the full inquest at the next preliminary hearing.
“I would like to try and get this hearing on as quickly as possible and certainly before the summer, if that is possible.”
Mr McGowan said: “Noah’s mother has always taken the position that she would like this inquest heard promptly, but it also can’t be on before it is ready – the disclosure needs to be completed.”
Another preliminary hearing will be held on February 26.
