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Jeffrey Donaldson charged with 11 historical sexual offences, including rape

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has appeared in court in Newry, Co Down, and been charged with 11 historical sexual offences, including one count of rape.

The other ten charges are one of gross indecency with a child and nine counts of indecently assaulting a female.

There are two alleged victims and the offences are alleged to have taken place over a 21-year period between January 1985 and December 2006.

The MP for Lagan Valley strenuously denies all of the charges.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson, 58, is facing four charges including aiding and abetting the offence.

She also denies all the charges.

Courtroom number 3 was packed as Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife Eleanor were led in by prison custody officers shorty after 10.30am.

Mr Donaldson's waiting solicitor John McBurney met the veteran politician as he got out of the left rear passenger seat and ushered him quickly through the line of the police officers who had created a tunnel through the assembled press.

Police held back photographers and camera operators looking to capture the first shots of the former DUP leader in public since his arrest and charge as he arrived at the court.

Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at Newry Magistrates court

Inside the tiny wood-panelled courtroom, they stood in the dock with a prison officer between them as the charges were put to them.

Mr Donaldson, wearing a grey suit and a blue tie dotted with a white rabbit motif, and his wife Eleanor Donaldson were asked if they understood the charges.

They each separately replied: "I do."

Apart from that they spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth.

They were not asked to enter pleas and were released on their own bail of £350 each, with a ban on contacting any prosecution witnesses.

A ban on contact with each other which was imposed when they were initially charged by police last month was removed.

Mr Donaldson resigned as DUP leader with immediate effect and was suspended from membership of the party following his arrest last month. He remains MP for Lagan Valley, a seat he has held since 1997, as an independent.

He was arrested by PSNI detectives at his home in Co Down at around 6am on Thursday 28 March and taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim Police Station for questioning.

Mr Donaldson was charged later that day.

His wife, who appeared in court this morning charged with aiding and abetting in connection with the offences was arrested and questioned on the same day.


Both were released on police bail and Mr Donaldson has been living at an address in London since Friday 29 March. It is understood he flew into Northern Ireland yesterday to ensure he makes it to Newry on time for the hearing.

Mr Donaldson's arrest, charging and sudden resignation was a political bombshell.

His successor, interim DUP leader Gavin Robinson, has described the charges of historical sex offences as a "devastating revelation" for the party.

This is an unprecedented case in Northern Ireland's political and legal history, the first time such a leading political figure has ever found themselves before the courts charged with serious sex offences.

Eleanor and Jeffrey Donaldson

There is huge media interest, with requests for access to the courtroom where the hearing took place from broadcast and print media throughout Ireland and Britain.

Due to the size of the court, access was restricted to 13 journalists, with 25 others were able to watch proceedings in an adjoining courtroom via a video link.

There was a large police presence, due to the level of public interest and the fact that a number of men were due to appear in the same court later, charged with taking part in an illegal dissident republican parade in Newry in October 2019.

Northern Ireland's Attorney General has warned of potential criminal offences from social media posts.

Earlier this month, Brenda King issued a statement about potential contempt of court issues and victims' rights to anonymity.

Contempt of court issues are when someone acts in a way that risks unfairly influencing a case or jeopardising the possibility of someone receiving a fair trial.

It is an offence to publish anything that could result in the victims of sexual offences being identified without their consent.

The PSNI has also warned that social media speculation about the case could affect the judicial process.

There had been concerns that Jeffrey Donaldson's resignation could destablise the new Stormont Executive as he personally drove the DUP's decision to end its two-year boycott of power-sharing.

The other parties in the devolved administration feared that DUP opponents of the decision would feel emboldened by his resignation, but to date those fears have been unfounded.