Jeffrey Donaldson’s letter to alleged victim had ‘nothing to do’ with abuse claims, trial hears

Jeffrey Donaldson told a woman who has accused him of sexual assault that he regretted inflicting “hurt, pain and distress”, but his comments were not related to the allegations, a court has heard. A lawyer for the former MP and Democratic Unionist party leader told Newry crown court on Friday that Donaldson’s letter to the alleged victim had “nothing to do” with her accusations of sexual abuse and referred to other behaviour. On the fourth day of the trial, Kieran Vaughan KC put it to the complainant, known as Witness A, that she was mistaken in linking the letter to his alleged historical sex offences. She said the letter, written in 2020, did not mention sexual abuse but had connotations of guilt and shame and requested forgiveness. “I believe that letter is a letter of apology for what he did to me over the years. He is a very clever man, he would never write in writing what he had done but he could heavily suggest.” Donaldson, 63, faces 18 charges, including one count of rape, which span from 1985 to 2008 and involve two alleged victims. His wife, Eleanor, 60, is charged with aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault. Both deny all the charges. The trial previously heard that Donaldson described himself in the letter as a “sinner” who had not addressed his “sinful nature for far too many years” and would “regret this to my dying day”. …