Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has appeared in court on Wednesday morning facing 11 charges of rape, gross indecency with or towards a child, and indecent assault on a female spanning more than two decades.
Donaldson is alleged to have committed the offenses between January 1, 1985, and January 1, 2006. He was arrested and charged last month and released on bail to appear at Newry Magistrates’ Court, where he arrived on Wednesday morning for the first stage of the court process.
Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, who was arrested and charged with separate offenses at the same time as her husband, is also due to appear at Newry Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Following an emergency meeting of its senior officers on March 29th, the DUP released a statement saying it had received a letter from Donaldson “confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect.” In accordance with the party rules, the party officers have suspended Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process.
DUP deputy leader, east Belfast MP Gavin Robinson, was “unanimously” appointed interim party leader.
Donaldson, 61, from Kilkeel in Co Down, was first elected to political office in 1985 when, as an Ulster Unionist (UUP) candidate, he won a seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly aged 22. He is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP and has been the representative for Lagan Valley since 1997, retaining the seat even after he quit the UUP and joined the DUP in 2004. He became leader of the DUP in June 2021 and presided over the party’s campaign against post-Brexit trading arrangements, taking his party out of the Northern Executive and leading to two years of political stalemate in Northern Ireland before returning earlier this year, permitting the restoration of the North’s political institutions.
In a statement on March 29th, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said detectives “arrested and charged a 61-year-old man for non-recent sexual offenses. A 57-year-old woman was also arrested and charged at the time for aiding and abetting additional offenses. Both are due to appear before Newry Magistrates’ Court on April 24th. As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.”
