Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe told friends he was struggling with mental health issues and had been "in denial" just days before he disappeared, an inquest into his death has been told.
The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after disappearing.
A post-mortem examination found that the cause of death was drowning.
The inquest into his death today heard from his best friend Jay Tierney, who was 15 at the time.
Barrister Peter Coll, counsel to the coroner, referred to a series of social media messages between the two teenagers and another friend.
The three St Malachy's College students had been due to go walking on Cave Hill in Belfast on the day he disappeared, Sunday 21 June 2020.
But Noah did not open and read messages telling him the others had cancelled the plan because of bad weather.
He left his home on his bike at 5.40pm that day with a bag containing his laptop and a book, '12 Rules for Life’ by Jordan Peterson.
The jury was told that in a message a week earlier Noah had pulled out of a previously planned trip to Cave Hill, saying he wanted to be on his own "to think about things".
The message sent on 13 June, which was shown to the court, read: "Thank you for letting me be able to talk to you guys but, I don’t think I need to cause I’m trying to be really honest about who I am an what I believe and stuff, and realise that there’s some stuff that I believed about myself that doesn’t make sense because I was in denial about and I didn’t want to face problems about how I actively try to suppress my emotions and how I was proud of that but I realise now that that mindset doesn’t make sense and I was thinking that way because I was in denial about it and it affected my mental health in negative ways without me realising it. So I’m on cause I don’t want to be in denial about anything."
A week earlier, Noah Donohoe also referred to mental health issues and apologised to Jay Tierney for being "cold" to him.
He said he had been "having ups and downs" for a few days and that this "had taken its toll on me".
Asked if he had concerns about his friend’s state of mind because of the messages, Mr Tierney said "no" as he believed the fact that Noah was talking about the issue was a positive sign.
He said he did not believe his friend was stressed about anything at the time, and that he had never mentioned anything about storm drains, drowning or a desire to go underground.
In another message, Noah Donohoe asked his friends what they planned to do with their bodies when they died.
Mr Tierney told the inquest he did not read much into it and said that kind of question was not unusual, because his friend was a naturally inquisitive person who wanted to know as much as possible about the world.
In response to questions, he said he did not believe that Noah had been struggling with his sexuality.
In a statement to police days after his friend was reported missing, Mr Tierney said "Noah was definitely straight".
He told the inquest that at the time his friend was very happy, "100 per cent positive, very excited for the future".
Mr Tierney described his friend as an eccentric, highly intelligent and passionate person.
The inquest heard last week that the dead teenager’s mother, Fiona Donohoe, expressed concern about her son’s mental health in a call to emergency services to report his disappearance.
Questioned in the afternoon by a barrister representing Ms Donohoe, Jay Tierney said it was not at all unusual for Noah to discuss his feelings and ask questions about a wide range of issues in his social media chats.
He recalled telling police that Noah had been in a "very positive frame of mind" when he last spoke to him during a walk the day before he disappeared.
This afternoon, the principal of St Malachy’s College told the inquest that Noah’s mother had called the school five days before he went missing, asking if someone from the school’s pastoral care team would call her back.
Deirdre McCusker, who was vice principal at the time, said she called Fiona Donohoe that afternoon.
She said Ms Donohoe had expressed concern that her son’s mood was "not as good as usual" and that his motivation for completing school work was not as good as it had been previously.
Describing the teenager as "exceptionally bright" and a model student, Ms McCusker said the conversation was not unusual at that time as it was three months into the Covid lockdown.
"I don’t think there was any parent who was not worried about their child during lockdown," she said.
Asked if it was unusual for a model student to lose motivation in such a way, she said it was very common at the time because of the impact of lockdown.
A music teacher at the school who took the teenager for cello lessons told the court that in response to a message about coursework that Noah had failed to submit, Ms Donohoe said her son "has been having a tough time this week" and that she was giving him a bit of time away from schoolwork.
Andrew Nesbitt said the fact that Noah had missed a deadline for the homework days before he disappeared was unusual and out of character as he was normally "bang on time".
He said that in audio recorded homework submitted in the weeks before his disappearance the teenager "did not appear to be as cheerful as usual", but added that he was someone "who took things in his stride".
The inquest continues.
Read more: Jury in Donohoe inquest hears mother's 'concerned' call to emergency services
