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The former leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party asked a woman who accuses him of sexual assault “for forgiveness”, the prosecution has claimed, at the start of his trial on Wednesday.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who was in attendance in Newry Crown Court, is accused of 18 historic sex abuse charges involving two alleged child victims.
Donaldson, 63, denies one charge of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 counts of indecent assault against two women between 1985 and 2008.
The court heard that both women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, recalled having been inappropriately touched or kissed by Donaldson on a number of occasions.
One of the complainants, who alleged she was raped and abused by the former Democratic Unionist Party leader between the ages of seven or eight and 12 or 13, said Donaldson had subsequently met her and church leaders in whom she had confided when she was 18.
The former MP from Lagan Valley “said he wanted to apologise for what had been done to her”, Rosemary Walsh, barrister for the prosecution, told the court, according to the complainant’s testimony. He had “asked for her forgiveness”, Walsh added.
The complainant said she had been inappropriately touched by Donaldson “a lot” and had felt afraid and sick after the alleged rape. She alleged that he had “put his hands down her pants a lot”, the court heard.
The second woman alleged that Donaldson had fondled her breasts and, when she was aged 12 or 13, had kissed her on the mouth with his tongue — an incident she said he had laughed off.
Donaldson has said he will strenuously contest the charges and told police the allegation of rape was “unbelievable”.
His arrest in March 2024 caused political shockwaves in Northern Ireland, where he was one of the region’s most powerful politicians at the height of his career.
The trial had initially been expected to take place last year but was delayed while the mental health of Donaldson’s wife and co-accused, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, was assessed.
Earlier this month, Judge Paul Ramsey ruled that Lady Donaldson, 60, who faces five charges including aiding and abetting her husband, was medically unfit to stand trial. She denies the charges.
Lady Donaldson, who is not required to attend court, now faces a so-called “trial of facts” in which the jury is asked to determine if she committed the alleged offences. Under a trial of facts, a defendant cannot be found guilty or jailed.
The arrest of Donaldson, who had spearheaded his party’s resistance to post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, triggered his exit from the political scene after 27 years as an MP.
It came after he had clinched a deal with the UK government to allay some of his party’s Brexit concerns.
That deal paved the way for the February 2024 return of the Stormont executive and assembly that Donaldson had boycotted, which had left the institutions unable to operate under Northern Ireland’s power-sharing rules.
Donaldson immediately resigned as DUP leader after his arrest but stayed on as MP for four months. He did not contest the UK general election in July 2024 and was replaced by Gavin Robinson, a Belfast MP, as DUP leader.
