LONDON (AP) 鈥� The former leader of Northern Ireland鈥檚 largest unionist party told a jury Thursday that he was 鈥渃rystal clear鈥� that he did not rape an alleged victim when she was a child decades ago, as he gave evidence at his trial on sex crime charges.
At the at Newry Crown Court two weeks ago, Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two alleged victims from 1985 to 2008.
Both the alleged victims have given evidence at the trial that they were abused as children. The two told police that Donaldson groped them when they were around primary school age, and the older of the two, referred to in court as Complainant B, said she had been raped.
Donaldson denied any wrongdoing in testimony Thursday. About the rape allegation specifically, Donaldson said: 鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 happen, I am absolutely crystal clear about that.”
鈥淚t is not something I would ever have done, it is just simply not true,” he said.
Donaldson was the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, or DUP, a conservative party dedicated to maintaining the region鈥檚 historic ties to the United Kingdom, when he was arrested in 2024.
He was emotional at times during his testimony, and spoke of how his head was 鈥渋n a spin鈥� after his arrest. At the time he and quit as a lawmaker in the U.K. Parliament.
Donaldson鈥檚 wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, has denied several charges of aiding and abetting her husband鈥檚 alleged offending. She faces a fact-finding hearing on those charges but will not face a criminal trial on mental health grounds.
Donaldson denied any suggestion that his wife had witnessed the abuse but did not intervene.
鈥淪he would have been very angry, she would have intervened immediately,” he said. 鈥淚 am absolutely clear, there is no situation where that happened.鈥�
As leader of the DUP from 2021 to 2023, Donaldson was the most powerful figure in Northern Ireland鈥檚 unionist movement.
The trial is expected to last another couple of weeks.
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