Two women who have made allegations of sexual offences against former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson say they happened while they were children, his trial has heard.
Prosecution barrister Rosie Walsh KC told the jury of five women and seven men at Newry Crown Court that one of the complainants claimed the abuse began while they were still at primary school and continued for a number of years.
The other woman said she believed the incidents involving her happened when she around was the same age.
Ms Walsh said the outcome of the case would be important for the two complainants and for Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife, Eleanor, who are both on trial.
The barrister told the jury that neither complainant had a perfect recollection of the alleged incidents.
She said that part of certain incidents they "remembered clearly" and others were "fragments".
She said these were limitations that the jury would have to consider.
Mr Donaldson is charged with the rape of one of the complainants who told police she was still of primary school age at the time of the alleged offence.
He is also charged with a number of offences of indecent assault involving this complainant.
Ms Walsh said the alleged offending was always accompanied by "silence" and that it had happened frequently.
She said that as she became older, and moved into adulthood, she had sought support and confided in a number of people.
A meeting between the complainant and Mr Donaldson was facilitated.
Ms Walsh told the jury that no specific details were discussed at the meeting.
During police interview, following his arrest in March 2024, Mr Donaldson said the accusation of rape was "unbelievable".
He accepted that he had attended a meeting at the request of facilitators in January 1997 but denied that any specific allegations had been put to him.
In respect of the second complainant, the jury was told several of the charges related to a number of alleged incidents involving inappropriate touching and kissing.
In police interviews, Mr Donaldson denied the accusations put to him.
The trial was told that the case against Eleanor Donaldson was that she was aware of what was going on.
During her police interview, she denied accusations that she had aided and abetted Mr Donaldson's alleged offending.
Mr Donaldson, aged 63, arrived at court shortly after 9am this morning where he was met at the gate by his solicitor.
The former DUP leader has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, including one of rape, four counts of gross indecency, and 13 charges of indecent assault.
Ms Donaldson has denied five charges, including 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.
The offences are alleged to have happened between 1985 and 2008 and involve two complainants.
Summarising the case against Jeffrey Donaldson, prosecution lawyer Rosemary Walsh KC said the two complainants had "stepped forward" two-and-a-half years ago and told police about "difficult and traumatic incidents they say happened to them when they were children".
Referring to police interviews by the complainants, she said one of them claimed Mr Donaldson had put his hands down her underwear and then raped her.
On another occasion she claimed the former DUP leader followed her into a room and lifted her top and bra up and touched her exposed breasts.
The complainant told police that Mr Donaldson put his hands down her pants and touched her breasts a lot.
The court was also told that during police interviews Jeffrey Donaldson had denied he had ever touched her in any way.
He also denied ever lifting her top and touching her breasts, and denied any sexually motivated touching.
The other woman told police that Mr Donaldson often touched her inappropriately when she was a child.
On one occasion she claimed he used a torch to look at her "private parts".
She also claimed he had kissed her inappropriately and when she complained he had laughed and said it was a joke.
The court was told that Mr Donaldson also denied those allegations.
