4 days ago

Julian O'Neill,Crime and justice correspondentand

Luke Sproule,Reporter, BBC News NI

One of the two alleged victims in the Sir Jeffrey Donaldson trial, who has accused him of raping her when she was a child, has claimed he apologised to her at a meeting arranged at a Christian centre in Armoy a number of years later.

The woman, known as Complainant B, is the older of two alleged victims who have accused the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader of sexual abuse.

The jury in Sir Jeffrey's trial at Newry Crown Court has been watching her interview with police.

Ten of the 18 sex abuse charges he denies relate to Complainant B, with the offences allegedly committed between 1985 and 1991.

Warning: This report contains explicit details that some readers may find distressing

Complainant B's ABE (Achieving Best Evidence) interview, which lasted 75 minutes, was played at Newry Crown Court on Tuesday morning.

At points in the interview, she was tearful and her words were occasionally inaudible.

She alleged Sir Jeffrey used to put his hands down her underwear "quite a lot".

Recalling the alleged rape incident, she said it happened when she was of primary school age.

The complainant claimed he put his feet between her feet and then pulled her legs apart.

"I remember he put his penis at my clitoris," she said, adding: "I know now that's the word for it."

Answering further questions, she said his breathing was heavy and he was panting.

Complainant B stated: "I hated it yet I thought... he'll just stop and lose interest.

"I thought what's the point in shouting."

Describing the incident she said she felt something "different" and "something I'd never felt before".

The complainant said the following day she felt "really sick" and "anxious".

She also said she remembered another incident in which Sir Jeffrey allegedly lifted up her top and "played" with her breasts.

She claimed to detectives that Lady Eleanor Donaldson had witnessed it and walked away.

"She just looked and turned away and pulled the door behind her," she added.

Complainant B later said in her police interview that she was referred to a Christian centre after starting to drink and take some drugs in her teenage years.

She stated the meeting was arranged after she disclosed her alleged abuse to a woman connected to the Christian Family Centre in Armoy.

She said Sir Jeffrey attended a meeting arranged by Linda and Davey Hoy at the centre, which they ran, when she was a teenager.

"He [Sir Jeffrey] apologised for what he had done to me in the past" she said.

"I remember thinking 'this is a bit weird and surreal' being here."

The woman added that she had thought once she told somebody about the alleged abuse that "that would be it and it would all be out there".

Complainant B also stated that in the summer of 2023 she was contacted by Lady Donaldson through Linda Hoy, allegedly saying she wanted to seek Complainant B's forgiveness.

"She texted me to say Eleanor Donaldson had been up with her and said she had been having a hard time and needs my forgiveness to move on," the woman said.

She added she "could not believe it" and did not respond.

Sir Jeffrey's barrister Kieran Vaughan KC later cross-examined Complainant B.

In her police interview the woman said that as a child she had told her "imaginary friend" about the alleged abuse.

Vaughan challenged her account and put it to her that this could not have happened in the way she said it had.

Complainant B rejected this.

Later during cross-examination Vaughan put it to her that "none of this happened".

"That is the explanation of why you have given different ages and times to different people," he said.

Complainant B responded: "I think that is quite naive for you to say that. It's true, it happened".

Turning to the alleged rape, Vaughan said Complainant B's recollection of what had happened was "very poor".

Complainant B responded: "My recollection is really vivid because I live with that every day."

The barrister pointed out that she could not remember what age she was at the time of the alleged incident.

She said what happened "will live with me forever".

Complainant B continued: "What did I do, what did I wear, what did I say to make that OK?"

Vaughan suggested the incident "did not happen" and asked her why she did not tell anyone about it at the time.

She said: "It was my biggest mistake not telling anybody back then… I regret that every day.

"I didn't know the words, I knew it was wrong."

Sir Jeffrey also denies acts of gross indecency and indecent assault against Complainant A when she was a child, between 1999 and 2008.

His wife, Lady Donaldson, denies five charges related to aiding and abetting.

She faces a trial of the facts after she was previously deemed unfit to face a conventional trial on mental health grounds, and is therefore not participating in proceedings.