A woman who alleges that former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson raped her as a child has told his trial she blames herself for what happened to his second alleged victim because she did not go to the police earlier.
Complainant B is the older of two alleged victims who claim they were sexually assaulted by the former MP.
She has told the Newry Crown Court that he raped her when she was of primary school age and sexually assaulted her a number of years later when she was a first year at secondary school.
It is the second day she has taken the stand.
Kieran Vaughan KC, Mr Donaldson's barrister, asked her about the circumstances in which she had ended up in a Christian Family Centre in Armoy, where she spent about a year.
The witness said it happened after she had stolen around £500 at a time when she was taking drugs.
She said that while she resented the fact that she was separated from her friends, the residential centre in Armoy had been "probably one of the best thing that happened to me".
It was while she was there that she disclosed the allegation of abuse.
It led to a meeting in the Armoy centre at which Complainant B alleges Mr Donaldson apologised to her.
Mr Vaughan said that in her police interview that there had been no allegations of sexual assault referenced at what had been a quick meeting.
He asked the witness if she remembered saying that Mr Donaldson had made her "uncomfortable" and him replying that if that was how she felt, he was sorry about that.
Mr Vaughan also put it to her that after disclosing the abuse allegations in Armoy, she had also told a pastor.
He said that when the pastor encouraged her to report it to the police, the witnesses had urged him not to do so and said that if he did, she would say it had all been a "lie".
The witness said she did not remember saying that.
Mr Vaughan said the defence had a note of what the pastor had told police.
"I should have said, please don't go, I will go with you," the witness said.
When asked why she would have told police the allegations were a lie, the witness said "I was so embarrassed by it all. I felt and still feel some loyalty to this man who did this to me".
Mr Vaughan also questioned her account that she had minimised contact with the Donaldsons.
He pointed out that she had been in their company on various occasions.
The barrister said these occasions "undermined" her evidence to police that she had tried never to be in the same room as Mr Donaldson.
At one point in her evidence, Complainant B broke down as she described how she blamed herself for what had allegedly happened to Mr Donaldson's other accuser, Complainant A.
Mr Donaldson is accused of indecently assaulting that alleged victim.
"It's my fault what happened to (Complainant A)," she said.
Mr Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 sexual offence charges, including one of rape.
Ten of the charges relate to alleged offending involving Complainant B, including the alleged rape and nine counts of indecent assault.
The offences are said to have happened between January 1985 and January 1991.
Mr Donaldson's wife, Eleanor Donaldson, has pleaded not guilty to five offences of aiding and abetting her husband's alleged offending.
She will not be in court during the trial as she has been deemed unfit to face a criminal trial due to mental health issues.
The jury will instead be asked to determine whether she committed the offences, but she cannot be convicted or sent to prison.
Mr Vaughan later pointed out that Complainant B had maintained contact with Mr Donaldson over the years, the last occasion being in 2021.
He also asked how many times she had met Complainant A before they approached the police in 2024.
She said there had been three meetings.
She was asked why she had not gone to the police earlier, rather than having these meetings.
"Because it was a big decision, it fell heavily on me. There's a line in the sand and consequences of actions."
Mr Vaughan also asked about a text message Complainant B had sent to Complainant A after they had attended the police station to make their complaint.
The message read: "Glad you came today as better two voices than one."
The witness was asked what she had meant by that.
It was put to her that it could be interpreted as suggesting that two accounts would help "bolster" the credibility of both.
She denied that was the meaning behind it.
"This is a terrible experience, to have the worst moments of your life picked through again and again."
She said she was expressing a view that neither woman was having to take a complaint on her own.
Complaint B said she and Complainant A were "bound together unfortunately for life on this."
This afternoon Complainant B was cross-examined by the barrister for Eleanor Donaldson, Ian Turkington KC.
He put it to the witness that Mrs Donaldson denied any suggestion that she had facilitated any alleged rape.
Mr Turkington said any suggestion to the contrary was "a figment of her imagination."
"That's not true, what I am saying is the truth," she said.
Mr Turkington said Mrs Donaldson had raised questions with her husband over behaviour towards the witness which she had seen.
It had led to an argument between them.
Mr Turkington said not that she had seen anything specific, but "there was something she didn't like going on."
He said Mrs Donaldson's version, as told to the police, was that what she had seen "didn't sit well" with her, but she was unable to get any clarity about exactly had happened.
Mr Turkington put it to the witness that Mrs Donaldson's account was that she had not seen any inappropriate touching.
"In the scheme of things what he did was worse, but she was there and walked away," the witness said.
"She let that happen, she did nothing, she did nothing, she did nothing."
Questioned about her memory of the alleged events, Complainant B accepted that her recall had improved after she had had counselling.
But she said it was simply that she had "allowed herself to remember".
"There's things I never want to remember," she said.
