Alleged victim tells Donaldson trial she should have reported abuse claims earlier

One of the two alleged victims in the Sir Jeffrey Donaldson sex abuse trial, who has accused him of raping her when she was a child, has said she should have reported it to police long ago.

The woman, known as Complainant B, was being cross-examined by Sir Jeffrey's lawyer when she said she blamed herself for the subsequent alleged abuse of the other complainant in the case.

"It's my fault what happened," she said.

Complainant B is the older of two alleged victims who have accused the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader of sexual abuse.

Ten of the 18 sex abuse charges Sir Jeffrey denies relate to Complainant B, with the offences allegedly committed between 1985 and 1991.

The jury at Newry Crown Court heard the complainant first disclosed her alleged abuse to a woman connected to the Christian Family Centre in Armoy, County Antrim, when she was in her teens.

She also confided in a pastor. It was put to her by Sir Jeffrey's lawyer, Kieran Vaughan KC, that the pastor had suggested at the time going to the police and she had resisted, stating that if he did so, she would say she had been lying.

Complainant B said it had been a "stupid" thing to say.

She said she was "embarrassed" and "didn't want it to be made a thing of at the time".

"I was so afraid of this - of all of this," she said.

She said she should have agreed to go to the police back then, instead of waiting until 2024.

She added: "I tried to move on, to be the bigger person. I tried to not be the victim. I tried to build a life."

The jury also heard details of some communication between Complainant B and Sir Jeffrey many years after the alleged abuse, in which the complainant was seeking his help on work and travel-related matters.

Sir Jeffrey's barrister said the contact appeared to suggest the complainant was "comfortable to reach out to him".

The complainant replied: "You can never use the word comfortable – you don't know how I feel about these things."

She said she had wanted to demonstrate in her communication with Sir Jeffrey that she had made a life for herself.

She added that the contact "doesn't change what happened when I was a kid".

Vaughan also questioned the woman about a message she sent to the other complainant in the case after they both went to a police station about their allegations.

In it she had said that she was glad the other complainant attended as "two voices [are] better than one".

Vaughan asked her if she had meant two voices would bolster the case.

Complainant B rejected that.

She said it was a "scary" thing to do alone and that two was better than one because they were both "doing it together".

She added: "I know that she and I are bound together unfortunately for life on this. That's why two people are better than one, because I'm not doing it by myself and she's not doing it by herself."

Later, Complainant B said Lady Donaldson should have "defended" her from Sir Jeffrey, and that she let the alleged rape happen.

Lady Donaldson's barrister, Ian Turkington KC, said his client denies enabling the rape.

During cross-examination of Complainant B, he said: "I'm suggesting your account is a figment of your imagination."

She replied: "No. I know you are suggesting that but what I am saying is the truth."

She later added: "I know what happened, she knows what happened, he knows what happened and literally God as a witness knows what happened."

Complainant B has claimed Lady Donaldson witnessed Sir Jeffrey "playing" with her breasts and "walked away" without speaking.

Turkington stated Lady Donaldson did see them together, but claims nothing "inappropriate" was happening.

Complainant B rejected this: "She saw what he was doing to me and that's the truth, sir."

Later, speaking about the same incident, Turkington said "over the years" Lady Donaldson had asked her husband "many times about what had happened".

He said she had not seen anything specific, but had reported there was "something she didn't like going on".

Turkington said Lady Donaldson had told police: "It didn't sit well with me, but I couldn't get anywhere with it."

He suggested it was only when Complainant B received a text in 2023 stating Lady Donaldson wanted to apologise did she first think she had seen something.

"That text confirmed what I knew in my head, what I always thought," Complainant B said.

Both complainants in the sex abuse trial reported their allegations to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in March 2024.

Sir Jeffrey and his wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson, who faces a trial of the facts on mental health grounds and is not participating in proceedings, were arrested later that month in their County Down home.

Sir Jeffrey also denies acts of gross indecency and indecent assault against Complainant A when she was a child, between 1999 and 2008.

His wife, Lady Donaldson, denies five charges related to aiding and abetting.

Complainant B has now completed her evidence and the trial will hear from its third witness on Thursday.