By Paul Higgins
MP and former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife appeared in court today (wed) accused of child sex offences alleged to have been committed against two victims over a 20 year period.
While Sir Jeffrey is accused of the rape and sex abuse of one complainant and sexually abusing a second complainant, both of whom enjoy lifetime anonymity, his wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson faces allegation of aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault as well as offences of child cruelty.
When Sir Jeffrey arrived at court, there were chaotic scenes as watchers and press pushed forward against uniformed officer to capture shots of the seismic day.
With the court room packed to the rafters with press, other media watching and listening in an adjoining room and more than 120 others signed in by videolink, District Judge Eamon King warned that it should be clear to everyone that “it is a criminal offence to record any proceedings that occur in a court room.”
“If I get or form the impression that someone is recording these proceedings with the intention of reproducing them on social media I will direct the link to be severed immediately,” declared the judge.
Wearing a grey suite, white shirt and light blur tie as he stood in the dock of Newry Magistrates Court, Sir Jeffrey was flanked by prison officers with one standing between him and his wife as the 61-year-old Sir Jeffrey confirmed his name and DOB and also that he understood the 11 charges against him.
In relation to the complainant he is alleged to have raped, Sir Jeffrey faces a total of five charges including four counts of indecent assault and a single charge of rape, all alleged to have been committed on dates unknown between 1 January 1985 and 1 January 1991.
Sir Jeffrey, who is using the DUP party office on Castle Street in Lisburn as his address, faces five charges of indecent assault and one charge of gross indecency towards a child, allegedly committed on dates between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2006 in relation to the second complainant.
Standing alongside her husband in the dock and wearing a black suit, 58-year-old Lady Eleanor also confirmed her name, DOB and also that she understood the four charges against her.
Lady Eleanor is accused of aiding and abetting her husband in rape, aiding and abetting Sir Jeffrey in indecent assault and two counts of child cruelty in relation to the two complainants in that she allegedly wilfully neglected them.
The particulars of the aiding and abetting rape charge alleges that Sir Jeffrey raped the female on “knowing that she did not so consent or being reckless as to whether the said person so consented” and that Lady Eleanor “did aid, abet, counsel and procure the commission of the said offence.”
While none of the alleged facts surrounding the charges were opened in court, PSNI Detective Sergeant Fleming told prosecuting counsel Fiona O’Kane that he was aware of the charges and he believed he could connect both defendants to their respective charges.
Following the formal connection, Mrs O’Kane told the court there were a couple of variations to be made to the couples’ bail conditions.
She said those included a lifting “by agreement” of a prohibition of Sir Jeffrey or lady Eleanor having any contact with each other.
The other condition to be varied, said Crown counsel, related to names being added to a list of prosecution witnesses neither defendant is allowed to contact as “there are more who have been spoken to” by investigators since the pair were first charged four weeks ago.
DJ King asked Mrs O’Kane if the charges are settled and she agreed they are, suggesting that when the case is next before the court in four weeks time the PPS could potentially fix a date for a Preliminary Enquiry which would see the case elevated to the Crown Court.
The PPS barrister said the prosecution were content for Sir Jeffrey and Lady Eleanor to be excused from attending the next hearing and added that the next time they would be required to attend court personally would be for the PE.
Freeing the alleged perverts on their own bail of £350 and granting the bail variations, DJ King adjourned the case to 22 May and formally excused them from attending.
While Lady Eleanor’s defence solicitor Richard Monteith asked if she could be allowed to be freed from the court to sign her own bail, the judge said that “ordinarily defendants go downstairs to sign their bail.”
He told the court given “tensions” associated with the case, he saw no reason to depart from that.
Accordingly, the prison officers lead the alleged rapists from the court to the cells downstairs.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was elected leader of the DUP in 2021 and he is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP having been first elected to Parliament in 1997 with the UUP.
In 2003 however, he left to join the DUP due to his long-standing opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and the leadership of David Trimble.
Knighted for political service in 2016, Sir Jeffrey recently brokered a deal which brought the DUP back into Stormont, ending a two-year boycott of the devolved institutions.
Within hours of being charged four weeks ago, Sir Jeffrey resigned as DUP leader “with immediate effect,” a move which saw Gavin Robinson appointed as the party’s interim leader.
While the alleged pervert’s party membership was also suspended “pending the outcome of a judicial process,” Sir Jeffrey remains MP for the Lagan Valley constituency, a seat he has held since 1997.
ENDS
CLANRYE NEWS 