The latest on the trial of Jeffery Donaldson
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What are the details of Jeffrey Donaldson's trial?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. Today is day two of the former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson's trial. Newstalk's Emily Keegan is following proceedings at the court. Good morning, Emily.
Good morning, Jonathan.
Lots of evidence heard yesterday. What happened?
What evidence was presented on day one of the trial?
Yeah, and I just will give a warning that a lot of the evidence that I'm about to run through might be upsetting for some listeners. So just a warning if there are any little ears in the car or anyone who might be sensitive to cases like this. But to remind everyone, Jeffrey Donaldson is facing 18 charges, including one count of rape involving two alleged victims, and he denies the charges. Now, yesterday, the jury was shown the first piece of evidence in this trial, and it was shown video recordings of police interviews with one of the alleged victims. which were recorded in March 2024. The first recording was about an hour long and the second one was about 20 minutes. And in those recordings, Complainant A makes a number of allegations against Geoffrey Donaldson.
She begins by claiming from a young age she thinks she was sexually abused by the former DUP leader, but says the dates are quite patchy and foggy. She tells police she remembers having sexual feelings from a young age and didn't understand why. and having nightmares about men doing horrible things to children. She goes on to allege Jeffrey Donaldson was quite physical with her on a number of occasions, claiming he put his hand up her top a number of times, also alleging that Mr. Donaldson kissed her inappropriately and recalls one alleged incident when he put his tongue in her mouth. She also told police there was another incident during which she allegedly saw Mr Donaldson looking at what she referred to as her private parts with a light.
And she said she realised only as an adult these encounters weren't normal and describes having to watch Mr Donaldson in his very public role winning accolade after accolade. She did also tell police that she once asked Mr Donaldson to confirm this happened to her in the presence of another person and said he looked at the floor and nodded.
We also would have heard some evidence yesterday of a letter of apology from Geoffrey Donelson, from the prosecutor. What was that about?
Yeah, so prosecutor Rosemary Walsh read out this letter, which she said was written to complainant A by Jeffrey Donaldson in 2020. And in this, she says, Mr. Donaldson writes of how he's seeking forgiveness and help from God. It says he truly regrets the pain and suffering and takes full responsibility for it all. Going on to say he was hoping that God would lift a sinner from the deep pit of sin. and said that pit had been dug by him because of his selfish and deceptive ways. Now, when questioned about this letter by the prosecution, Complainant A said she believed it was Jeffrey Donaldson trying to apologise for what she alleges happened to her, but not wanting to say that formally in writing.
And she explains there's a lot of apology in the letter, but none of it is specific.
What happened in the afternoon then? Because there was cross-examination of Complainant A by Jeffrey Donaldson's lawyer.
Yeah, so this got underway after lunch yesterday and it'll continue today. It wasn't quite wrapped up, but Geoffrey Donaldson's lawyer, Ciarán Vaughan, did cross-examine Complainant Day and he began by suggesting the evidence were unclear, the events were unclear in her mind.
What allegations were made by Complainant A during the trial?
Complainant Day disagreed with that and said her memories of the incidents themselves are detailed, but said that she did use the term foggy in the police interview, but that was in reference to her recollection of the dates of the alleged incidents. The defence barrister went on to suggest there was no touching of the chest at all and there was no tongues in mouth at all ever. He said she either fabricated these incidents or dreamt them and convinced herself over the years they were true. The complainant responded to that by saying to imply someone would dream things like that without a reason is ridiculous and she called it insulting.
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