Sir Jeffrey Donaldson Released on Bail Facing Rape and Indecency Charges

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has been released on continuing bail after being charged with 11 offences including one of rape. The 61-year-old former DUP leader is also charged with one offence of committing an act of gross indecency and nine of indecent assault. Sir Jeffrey appeared at Newry Magistrates’ Court with his wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, who also faces charges in relation to the same police investigation. The former DUP leader quit his role as head of the party at the end of March after being charged with historical sex offences. During a brief court hearing on Wednesday, the charges were read to the Lagan Valley MP and his wife as they stood in the dock. Sir Jeffrey faces 11 charges including one of rape, one of committing an act of gross indecency and nine of indecent assault on dates between 1985 and 2006. The offences relate to two alleged victims. His wife, Eleanor Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, 58, of Dromore, faces charges of aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences. The two defendants were released on continuing bail. The case will be mentioned again on May 22, but they do not have to attend on that date. In a letter to party leaders, Sir Jeffrey said he would be “strenuously contesting” the charges. Sir Jeffrey has been suspended from the DUP. East Belfast MP and deputy leader Gavin Robinson was appointed interim party leader. Sir Jeffrey has so far remained as MP for Lagan Valley. The announcement of his charges came on March 29, just weeks after Sir Jeffrey made the decision to bring the party back to power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Sir Jeffrey’s leadership saw him steer the party’s two-year boycott of Northern Ireland’s political institutions in protest over post-Brexit trading arrangements. The party gave the green light for the recall of the Stormont Assembly in February on the back of a deal addressing its concerns about post-Brexit trading arrangements. Sir Jeffrey, who has had an almost 40-year career in politics, became DUP leader in July 2021. At 18, he became a full-time political activist after serving in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). He later ran the constituency office of Tory MP Enoch Powell, before working for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader James Molyneaux. Aged 22, he was the youngest person to be elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The 61-year-old’s relationship with former UUP leader David Trimble deteriorated when he led a walkout of the 1998 peace talks for the Good Friday Agreement after opposing the early release of republican and loyalist prisoners. He left the party and joined the DUP in January 2004. He was recognized by the Queen in her 2016 Birthday Honours and was given a knighthood.