https://open.spotify.com/episode/46V1SZPbTIhCkJC9ivw8MG?si=KXA4PnmgRrCQ3bUQ_6hjpw
created by askmac on 10/03/2025 at 12:49 UTC
11 upvotes, 5 top-level comments (showing 5)
Comment by Force-Grand at 10/03/2025 at 13:38 UTC
12 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Worth noting that "intrusive surveillance" has a very specific legal definition, so while people may feel things which are intrusive have been done the Chief Constable may still be able to say no intrusive surveillance has been conducted.
Comment by Professional-Buy6668 at 10/03/2025 at 16:49 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I know the circumstances around his death are pretty bizarre and presumably there's some evidence for the PSNI mishandling the situation but...
I swear when I spent time reading up on the events, there was only like a couple minutes where Noah wasn't on CCTV - ie, there was footage of going down one street and 30 seconds later he appears on another camera feed (so unless something occurred within 20 seconds, that's all accounted for)
Am I wrong about this? I get that the optics were just surreal, like something you'd expect to see in an X Files episode rather than a local news story - but by Occam's razor, is the most likely explanation not just that he either hit his head or had some kind of mental damage leading to erratic behaviour like paradoxical undressing etc?
I don't intend to sound insensitive at all. Absolutely tragic thing happened to that family but idk people still looking for conspiracies and drug gangs collaborating with the police....I just can't help but think there'd be far more evidence for it beyond "its all a bit weird though, maybe loyalists have mind control powers now?"
Comment by askmac at 10/03/2025 at 12:50 UTC*
8 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Interesting discussion which continues on from / elaborates on the allegations of PSNI spying on Donal McIntyre re his investigation into their handling of Noah Donahoe's death. The tl;dr version is that a former intelligence bod has contacted McBride to say that the Chief Constable's denial of spying is couched in terms that are incredibly specific.
The info McBride's leak provided tallies with the date the Chief Constable admits they started monitoring McIntyre's social media. It also stated that the operation (to spy on DM) was given an official name within the PSNI. It all sounds very much like once again, the PSNI are illegally spying on journalists and it raises the question of why, and who is authorising it. IIRC in the previous podcast on this issue there was a cursory mention of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey who won a massive victory at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in December of last year. However I think it's relevant that at that trial it was revealed that the PSNI spied on 323 journalists and 500 lawyers and were assisted in their illegal spying by the Met.
McCaffrey (iirc) said that the PSNI seemed to be treating anyone who was investigating or challenging the PSNI as if they themselves were the criminals, especially in instances where journalists and solicitors were trying to expose British Government collusion. Which also begs the question, why are they spying on McIntyre (which it appears they are).
Jon Boutcher made a very interesting statement as part of his answer to those allegations which was basically that if the police are breaking into your car, you won't know about it. Sam McBride was very quick to add that this was perfectly reasonable because that's only done when they are "legally" investigating proper criminals. A laughable statement in light of the IPC judgement which shows the police are simply doing whatever they want on a massive scale. Also, the language Boutcher used didn't rule out the PSNI or Metropolitan Police using "freelancers" to break into McIntyre's car.
Furthermore, McCaffrey and Birney's arrest was under the premise of discovering leaked police files - files which were actually shown in No Stone Unturned iirc. Begs the question why the Belfast Telegraph offices haven't been raided in order to find Sam McBride's PSNI leak source.
Edit: Incidentally I messaged the mods an hour ago to seek clarification on how to format this but am still awaiting a useful response. Trying to link it directly to the Belfast Telegraph site gets it deleted...so???
Comment by dcmassive85 at 10/03/2025 at 13:42 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This whole case reeks of a coverup of some sort. Not getting into theories or conspiracies but there is definitely more to the whole thing than the "official" story
Comment by steven-patterson at 10/03/2025 at 13:06 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
interesting article mac thank you