Donaldson letter to sex abuse accuser had 'nothing to do with allegations', court hears
PAA letter written by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to a woman who has accused him of sex abuse had nothing to do with her allegations against him, Newry Crown Court has heard.
The claim was made by Kieran Vaughan KC, the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader's lawyer.
Vaughan was cross-examining one of Sir Jeffrey's two alleged victims, known as Complainant A.
He is on trial for 18 sex abuse charges, including one count of rape. Sir Jeffrey denies all the offences.
Sir Jeffrey wrote her a letter in June 2020, which was read out in court on Thursday, in which he expressed "regret" for the "hurt, pain and distress" he had caused.
Complainant A previously told the court she thought the letter was an attempt by him "to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred".
However, Vaughan said that is not the "proper context".
The lawyer also claimed that Complainant A had not made the police aware of the context when she gave them the letter after they interviewed her in March 2024.
Vaughan put it to her: "This has nothing to do with you and sexual assault."
He stated Sir Jeffrey was apologising for other "behaviour".
Complainant A said she believed the letter was "an apology for what he did to me".
"He's a very clever man.
"He would never write out what he has done in a letter but he could heavily suggest and hint that he was sorry for it.
"In his own way, he's using that letter as a form of apology but it's not an apology.
"You can acknowledge that you have sinned. There's no detail of what that sin was."
She said that was "not enough".
Vaughan later referred to various communications between Complainant A and Sir Jeffrey which, he suggested, showed a "friendly banter" at variance with the abuse allegations.
Complainant A also rejected the lawyer's claims that the alleged sexual abuse incidents never happened.
She alleges that in three incidents, the 63-year-old rubbed her breasts, kissed her inappropriately and shone a light, possibly a torch, on her genital area.
Complainant A also alleged that the former DUP leader's wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, had witnessed the incident when he had rubbed her chest with his hand under her clothing, but did not intervene.
Vaughan asked Complainant A if it was "serious" to suggest that Lady Donaldson witnessed the alleged incident.
She replied: "Yes."
She claimed Lady Donaldson did not say anything about it.
This was a claim the barrister described as "nonsense", to which Complainant A responded: "That's insulting."
Sir Jeffrey denies acts of gross indecency and indecent assault against Complainant A when she was a child, between 1999 and 2008.
Other alleged offences, dating back to 1985, including a charge of rape, relate to a second woman, Complainant B, when she was also a child.
Lady Donaldson faces five related charges of aiding and abetting, which she has denied.
She has been found unfit for a conventional trial under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order.
Instead, a trial of the facts is being held in which she will not participate.
The trial was adjourned on Friday afternoon and will resume on Monday.
