AN inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe has been adjourned until later this year.
The body of the 14-year-old St Malachy's College schoolboy was found in a storm drain in North Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after he went missing from his South Belfast home.
The inquest, which began in January, looked set to conclude this week, with the jury of eight men and two women having been deliberating over three days since Tuesday morning.
They remained in session until shortly before 11.30pm on Thursday without reaching the unanimous verdict required by the court.
But just before 1am on Friday, Coroner Mr Justice Rooney made the decision to adjourn the inquest because of the existing holiday arrangements of four members of the jury.
Two of the jurors would be unavailable for service on Friday because they are departing on planned holidays.
Two other jury members would be unavailable from Saturday due to their planned holidays.
The absence of significant numbers of the jury would raise serious issues around the jury quorum, or the numbers legally required to continue to debate a verdict.
Mr Justice Rooney explained that the ten jurors of eight men and two women had "dedicated" themselves to more than five months of the inquest and said it would be "wrong" not to allow all of them to be involved in the completion of the jury process.
He said the issue arising from the holiday arrangements had left the process in "uncharted waters".
Mr Justice Rooney said the best option was to adjourn the inquest until August or September to allow all members of the jury to participate in the process until it concludes.
