Overview
- Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 historical sexual‑offence charges that span 1985–2008 and are being heard by a jury at Newry Crown Court.
- A recorded ABE police interview in which Complainant B describes an alleged rape was played to jurors on Tuesday, and she has since given emotional live evidence under cross‑examination.
- Complainant A has finished giving evidence and told the jury she raised one alleged incident with Lady Eleanor Donaldson at the time but no action followed, a claim the defence vigorously challenged.
- Defence counsel have repeatedly tested both complainants on memory, omissions and inconsistencies in recorded interviews and statements while the witnesses deny inventing their accounts.
- Lady Eleanor Donaldson has been found unfit to stand trial and will face a trial of the facts, a procedure that can find whether acts occurred but cannot lead to a criminal conviction or prison sentence.