Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former DUP leader, told a jury at Newry Crown Court on Thursday that a letter expressing “regret” to one of his alleged victims was “absolutely not” an apology for abuse. “I would never have done anything of that nature. This was not the reason why this letter was written,” he said, taking the witness stand for the first time.
The 63-year-old faces 18 sex abuse charges, including one count of rape, allegedly committed between 1985 and 2008. He denies all of them. Two women – referred to in court as Complainant A and Complainant B – reported their allegations to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in March 2024.
“Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tells jury letter to alleged victim was not an apology for abuse.”
Earlier, the trial heard that in 2020 Donaldson wrote to Complainant A expressing “regret” for the “hurt, pain and distress” he had caused her. The woman said she believed the letter was an attempt to apologise for the alleged abuse. Under cross-examination by his defence barrister, Kieran Vaughan KC, Sir Jeffrey read extracts from the letter to the jury. Vaughan asked directly if the letter referred to the alleged abuse. “Absolutely not,” Sir Jeffrey replied. “I would never have done anything of that nature.”
He was equally emphatic when asked about the rape allegation made by Complainant B. “It just didn’t happen. I am absolutely crystal clear about that,” he said. He described as “unbelievable” the claim that he had “played” with her breasts in the presence of his wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, who he said would have “intervened immediately”. “The idea I was standing there with a child with her clothes pulled up and feeling her chest… and my wife walked in and saw this and just walked out again is unbelievable. She would have been very angry and intervened immediately because that is the nature of my wife… there is no situation where that happened,” he told the court.
The trial previously heard about a meeting at a Christian Centre in Armoy in the 1990s between Complainant B and Sir Jeffrey. She claimed he had apologised. But Sir Jeffrey recalled a short meeting, also attended by Davey and Linda Hoy, who ran the centre. He said he “embraced” Complainant B and said he was sorry if she had ever felt “uncomfortable or unhappy” about him. He described the meeting as “a very positive experience”. Vaughan asked whether any allegation of sexual abuse was mentioned. “The word allegation wasn’t even mentioned at that meeting. There would have been no reason for it to be put to me,” Sir Jeffrey replied.
Vaughan also asked about an alleged incident involving Complainant A, who claimed he had kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth. The trial continues.