A coroner’s inquest into the disappearance of teenager Noah Donohoe has revealed that the PSNI encountered technical issues with its ControlWorks software, which affected the recording and processing of information reported by the public to police call handlers.
Logs from the PSNI’s ControlWorks software presented in the Belfast Coroner’s court highlighted a significant problem with the system that could have caused delays in passing on crucial information to investigators.
Reports from Computer Weekly previously indicated that the PSNI had to resort to manual methods, such as pen and paper, due to slow-downs and technical issues with ControlWorks after its installation in May 2019.
Noah Donohoe, who was 14 years old, was tragically found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after he went missing while cycling to meet friends. The cause of death was determined to be drowning following a post-mortem examination.
During the inquest, witness Connor McConnell testified that he had made multiple phone calls to the police after witnessing a naked male cyclist outside his mother’s partner’s house on the night of Donohoe’s disappearance.
McConnell recalled making calls to the police on the night of Sunday 21 June 2020 and again the following day. He mentioned that his initial call was prompted by a Facebook post about a missing person.
Queries regarding the number of calls
Declan Quinn KC, representing the coroner, revealed that the police had no record of McConnell’s first call on Sunday night after conducting checks in their system, with the first documented contact being on Monday night.
McConnell insisted that he was certain about making the Sunday night call and expressed frustration over the possibility of it being lost among numerous calls. He vividly remembered the timing of his initial call due to watching Match of the Day 2 on TV.
It was disclosed during the inquest that McConnell was not asked to provide a statement to the police until March 2022, two years after his initial phone calls.
When McConnell questioned the police about his calls during his statement, he was informed that the high volume of calls at the time could have led to potential oversights.
Police log highlighted problems with ControlWorks
McConnell was presented with a ControlWorks log from 23 June at 9pm, which detailed a significant issue within the system related to alerts not functioning correctly or being canceled.
The log indicated that this issue could impact the timeliness of passing on critical information. The PSNI’s barrister, Donal Lunny KC, clarified that the problem with ControlWorks was resolved on the same day, although the system was running below optimal levels but was functional. He emphasized that this issue would not explain the missing call McConnell had reported.
When questioned further about his calls to the police, McConnell challenged the authorities to access his phone records to verify his claims.
Computer Weekly had previously reported on a significant problem with ControlWorks that may have caused delays in relaying information to police officers involved in the search for Donohoe.
PSNI’s failure to report ControlWorks issues
It has come to light that information provided to the police force on the evening of 24 June regarding an attempt to sell Donohoe’s laptop was delayed in reaching investigators due to a ControlWorks malfunction.
The extent of the delay and its impact on the search for the missing teenager remains unclear, but detectives involved in the case acknowledged and documented the delay during the active investigation.
Surprisingly, the PSNI did not report any incidents related to ControlWorks to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the regulatory body overseeing the police force. Additionally, these issues were not mentioned in the force’s annual reports.
While there is no legal obligation to report ControlWorks failures to the Policing Board, the Board emphasized that it expects any serious incidents involving the system to be promptly reported.
Categorization of errors in ControlWorks
The PSNI utilizes ControlWorks as part of its command and control system to manage and log calls from the public to emergency services while dispatching police officers to incidents.
Incidents within ControlWorks are classified based on their severity, with the most critical issues designated as P1, requiring resolution within six hours by the force’s IT suppliers. Force-wide service disruptions are categorized as P2 and must be resolved within eight hours.
Less severe incidents fall into categories P3 and P4, with varying timelines for resolution. The PSNI clarified in a statement to the Policing Board that ControlWorks did not experience any “critical incidents” despite the reported issues.
