Former DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson, 61, faces one charge of rape and 10 other counts of sexual abuse dating from 1985 to 2006. His wife, Eleanor Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, 58, faces four counts of aiding and abetting the alleged crimes. The charges involve two alleged victims and include a count of rape, a single charge of gross indecency, and nine indecent assault charges.
Donaldson was arrested on March 28 following a complaint about “non-recent offenses” and resigned as DUP leader shortly after. In a letter to party leaders, he said he would be “strenuously contesting” the charges.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has not released any further details about the case. Donaldson’s court case has been adjourned until May 22.
As leader of the DUP between 2021 and 2023, Donaldson was the most powerful figure in Northern Ireland’s unionist movement, which seeks to maintain the region’s historic ties to the United Kingdom. His resignation shocked the DUP just months after the party agreed to return to Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government after he won concessions on Britain’s post-Brexit trading arrangements with the European Union.
