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."

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.

The trial continues.