Overview
- The defence formally closed its case on Monday, leaving closing speeches and legal submissions to finish the trial.
- Prosecution and defence have made closing arguments this week and Judge Paul Ramsey is due to sum up the evidence before the 12 jurors retire to deliberate.
- Sir Jeffrey Donaldson denies an 18‑count indictment that includes one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency spanning 1985 to 2008.
- Lady Eleanor Donaldson faces a separate trial of the facts because she was ruled medically unfit for a criminal trial, a process that can find whether acts occurred but cannot produce a criminal conviction.
- The case hinges on decades‑old and fragmentary evidence — police recorded interviews, a disputed 2020 letter and differing accounts of a 1990s meeting at a Christian centre — and its outcome will have major reputational and political consequences for a former DUP leader.