Former DUP leader appears in court to hear rape charge
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist party, appeared in court yesterday charged with rape, gross indecency and other offences spanning 21 years, in a case that has stunned Northern Ireland.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, appeared alongside him at Newry magistrates court in County Down charged with aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault.
Donaldson, 61, faces 11 charges: one count of rape, one count of gross indecency towards a child, and nine counts of indecent assault on a female. The allegations relate to two complainants. He said nothing as he passed a throng of police and media in his first public appearance since 28 March, when he was arrested and questioned with his wife. Both deny the allegations.
The rape charge alleges Donaldson had unlawful sexual intercourse with an alleged victim without her consent on a date unknown between 1985 and 1991. Nine allegations of indecent assault span the period from 1985 to 2006. He is also charged with committing an act of gross indecency towards a child between 2005 and 2006.
Eleanor Donaldson, 58, faces two counts of cruelty alongside the charges of aiding and abetting. The charges span the period 1985-2004.
The couple appeared in the dock separated by a custody officer while the charges were read during a sevenminute hearing. They spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth, and to say that they understood the charges. Donaldson had his arms folded and appeared impassive. No pleas were taken. Judge Eamonn King released the couple on continuing bail, fixed at £350.
The couple, who married in 1987, are being represented by different legal firms. The case will return to the magistrates court on 22 May to fix a timetable, but the defendants will not be obliged to attend that hearing.
The hearing was the first step in what may be a lengthy process – not helped by a backlog of cases in the courts – that is expected to continue into next year.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a complaint in early March had prompted the investigation that led to Donaldson’s arrest, which has caused a political earthquake in Northern Ireland. Donaldson stepped down from the DUP leadership but remains an MP. The party appointed the Belfast East MP, Gavin Robinson, as interim leader.
In February, Donaldson had won widespread praise by agreeing a deal with Downing Street on post-Brexit trading arrangements that ended a DUP boycott of power sharing and revived the Stormont assembly. He had been expected to lead his party into the general election.
Born into a Presbyterian family, Donaldson was a full-time political activist from the age of 18, serving apprenticeships with Enoch Powell and James Molyneaux of the Ulster Unionist party before moving to the DUP in 2003. He was knighted in 2016.