Former DUP leader expressed 'regret' to alleged victim in letter, court hears

The sex abuse trial of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been told he wrote a letter to one of the two alleged victims expressing "regret", adding he had sought God's forgiveness.

Sir Jeffrey, 63, denies 18 charges against two alleged victims when they were children, including one count of rape.

Crown lawyer Rosemary Walsh KC read out a letter that she said was written to Complainant A in June 2020.

In it, he stated: "I wish I could find the right words to adequately express just how sorry I am for all of this… I take full responsibility for it all."

He is accused of eight offences against Complainant A, which allegedly occurred between 1999 and 2008.

They are four counts of gross indecency and four counts of indecent assault.

Earlier on Wednesday, the jury was shown video recordings of police interviews with Complainant A.

In them, she described a number of alleged encounters with him, including a kiss in which she claimed he put his tongue in her mouth.

Known as ABE (achieving best evidence) interviews, they were conducted three weeks before his arrest in March 2024.

In the first of two ABE interviews shown, she began: "I, from quite a young age, was, I think, sexually abused by Jeffrey Donaldson."

She claimed Sir Jeffrey had made comments about the size of her breasts.

She also recalled him kissing her on occasions, including one five-second kiss "which really stood out".

Complainant A stated: "He put his tongue in my mouth and moved it around before I was able to push him off.

"The kiss was not a pleasant thing."

She claimed he "laughed off" the incident as "just a joke".

In another alleged encounter, she claimed Sir Jeffrey had used a bright light, possibly a torch, to look at her private parts.

She said the experience had made her feel "really frightened".

At this point in the police interview she became tearful.

She went on to claim that Sir Jeffrey had also put his hands under her bra and rubbed her breasts.

Later, as an adult, she said she realised the incidents were abnormal.

She described having to watch Sir Jeffrey receive "accolade after accolade" in public life.

She described herself as having been sexually aware from a young age and getting nightmares "about men doing horrible things to children".

In adult life, Complainant A claimed that she confronted Sir Jeffrey.

"I said: 'Can you confirm this happened to me?'

"He didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and looked at the floor.

"He couldn't look at me. There was a silence."

When the Crown barrister asked Complainant A what she understood the letter from 2020 to mean, she told the court: "He was trying to apologise for perhaps the abuse that had occurred, but he did not want to say it firmly in writing.

"So there is a lot of apology but it is not specific.

"It felt like an apology."

During cross-examination of Complainant A, Sir Jeffrey's barrister Kieran Vaughan KC put it to her that her mind was "foggy" around the alleged events.

The complainant said she disagreed with that.

She said she had used the word "foggy" in her police interviews in reference to her recollection of dates.

She said: "The incidents themselves, I remember significant detail due to the nature of what happened."

The defence barrister also suggested that the alleged "tongue in mouth" and "rubbing of chest" incidents did not happen.

He said: "Either you made it up, fabricated the tongue in the mouth or rubbing of the chest, or you dreamt it, and over the years you have just come to believe that it's true."

The complainant said to suggest someone would dream such a thing for no reason was "completely ridiculous" and "insulting".

The court also heard Complainant A was sexually abused by another man when she was a child.

The defence barrister asked her why she had not told the police about that abuse.

She said because the alleged abuse by Sir Jeffrey was "of such great significance" to her.

"My priority was this case and dealing with this," she added.

Vaughan also told the court that the alleged incident involving the use of the torch had not happened as Complainant A had described it.

The Donaldsons were arrested in their County Down home and charged on 28 March 2024.

He resigned as DUP leader the next day and did not contest his Lagan Valley seat in the general election four months later.

In total, he is accused of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 counts of indecent assault.

His wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, faces a trial of the facts on five related charges of aiding and abetting, which she has denied.

She was found unfit for a conventional trial under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order.

Under a trial of the facts, she will not participate in proceedings.