Jeffrey Donaldson has appeared in court charged with rape, gross indecency and other sexual offences spanning 21 years in a case that has stunned Northern Ireland.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, appeared alongside him at Newry magistrates court in County Down on Wednesday and was charged with aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault.
Donaldson, 61, faces 11 charges: one count of rape, one count of gross indecency towards a child and nine counts of indecent assault on a female from 1985 to 2006. The allegations relate to two complainants.
The former Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader said nothing as he passed a throng of police and media in his first public appearance since 28 March, when he was arrested and questioned with his wife. Both deny the allegations.
The rape charge alleges Donaldson had unlawful sexual intercourse with the alleged victim without her consent on a date unknown between 1985 and 1991. Nine allegations of indecent assault span 1985 to 2006. He is also charged with committing an act of gross indecency towards a child between 2005 and 2006.
Eleanor Donaldson, 58, is charged with aiding and abetting the offences and with two counts of cruelty. The charges span 1985 to 2004.
The couple appeared in the dock separated by a custody officer while the charges were read during a seven-minute hearing in a small, crowded courtroom. They spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and that they understood the charges. Donaldson, wearing a grey suit, had his arms folded and appeared impassive. No pleas were taken.
Judge Eamonn King released the couple on continuing bail, fixed at £350.
The couple, who married in 1987, are represented by different legal firms. They are to have no contact with witnesses. King warned people in the court to not record or post video or audio of the proceedings. The case will return to the magistrates court on 22 May to fix a timetable. The defendants will not be obliged to attend that hearing.
The hearing was the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy legal process – not helped by a backlog of cases in the courts – that will continue into next year.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a complaint in early March prompted the investigation that led to Donaldson’s arrest, which caused a political earthquake in Northern Ireland. Donaldson stepped down from the DUP leadership but remains an MP. The party appointed the East Belfast MP, Gavin Robinson, as interim leader.
In February, Donaldson had won widespread praise and bolstered his authority by agreeing a deal with Downing Street on post-Brexit trading arrangements that ended a two-year DUP boycott of power sharing and revived the Stormont executive and assembly. He had been expected to lead his party into the general election.
Born into a Presbyterian family in the fishing village of Kilkeel, Donaldson was a full-time political activist from the age of 18, serving apprenticeships with Enoch Powell and James Molyneaux of the Ulster Unionist party before defecting to the DUP in 2003. He was knighted in 2016 and became party leader in 2021.
