Jeffrey Donaldson, a former DUP leader and MP, is on trial in a Newry court over 18 alleged historical sex offences dating from 1985 to 2008, including an allegation of rape. Donaldson, 63, denies all charges.
The court also hears that Donaldson’s wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, placed a listening device in his car. The accounts before the court say she did so after becoming suspicious that he was having an affair with a constituent. Both outlets report that Eleanor Donaldson is charged with aiding and abetting and denies the charges.
One report says the device-related evidence is part of the wider allegations being considered at the trial, while another notes that Donaldson is described by a complainant as having been “very clever” and that he would not admit to abuse in a 2020 letter, according to testimony. Eleanor Donaldson is not in court because she has been ruled medically unfit to stand trial and the matter proceeds as a “trial of the facts.”
