Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a Belltel and Crime World podcast. A jury has heard a police interview recording of a woman who claims she was raped as a child by Jeffrey Donaldson. Jurors at Newry Crown Court heard allegations against the former DUP leader by a woman who claims it happened when she was at primary school.
Chapter 2: What allegations are made against Jeffrey Donaldson?
She also alleged that Donaldson arranged for her to be sent to a Christian rehabilitation centre and apologised to her there.
63-year-old Geoffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences said to have taken place between 1985 and 2008 and involving two complainants, known as Witness A and Witness B. The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency. His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, also denies the charges.
She faces a trial of the facts on aiding and abetting allegations after the trial judge ruled her medically unfit to stand trial. Alison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph, and some listeners might find the details of the allegations made in court disturbing. Alison, this is the second week of the trial. It's expected to last four weeks.
Today, we heard details of an alleged child rape by the ex-DUP leader, Geoffrey Donaldson. Geoffrey Donaldson, of course, denies all of the charges.
Yeah. And, you know, I suppose we should come with a bit of a trigger warning on this. It is quite this evidence that was discussed today was the achieving best evidence, the ABE, as they call it, of the witness, the elder of the two female complainants known as Witness B. And so, as you said, it is now, we're into the second week of the trial. Witness A concluded her evidence yesterday.
And now we're on to Witness B. So the morning was spent watching the recording of that ABE. That recording was made in March 2024. And that was Witness B's interview with police. And during that interview, she is heard saying that she was raped as a child by Geoffrey Donaldson, MP.
Now, and we've both given warnings, but can you give the details of those allegations?
Yeah, so as I said, achieving best evidence, which was a pre-recorded interview shown to the jury on a large screen, she said that he had put his hands down her underwear. She said, I remember him pulling my legs apart with his feet. And she said, she thought, this is new, this is different. She then said, I remember he put his penis at my private parts, she said.
Witness B was difficult to understand. At times during this recording, she spoke very softly, very low. She was upset at times. At times she was speaking into her hands, with her head in her hands. But she told police that while she couldn't remember her exact age when this happened, that she was definitely at primary school at the time. And she said, I remember I couldn't tell anyone.
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Chapter 3: How did Eleanor Donaldson's situation differ in the trial?
Yeah, and we know Eleanor Donaldson is not in court because she is facing a trial of the facts, but her counsel is in court for her.
The witness claimed that during this specific incident, and we're talking about the incident where she said Jeffrey Donaldson followed her into the room, that she said Eleanor Donaldson came to the door and she said she just looked in, turned away and pulled the door behind her. She says, Jeffrey Donaldson never threatened me.
And she added that the two incidents were the only two times that she can remember detail.
Now, she also said that she was sent to a Christian rehabilitation centre and she alleged that that was arranged by Jeffrey Donaldson.
Yeah, the witness said when she was about 17 years of age, she was sent to a Christian rehabilitation centre. She said that she later found out that Jeffrey Donaldson had arranged for her to go there.
She said, one day I was put into a car and taken there, and she said, and it was while at this Christian family centre in Armoy in County Antrim that she told the daughter of the couple who ran the centre about the alleged abuse. She said that this was the first person that she had actually ever told.
She said she told Clara Hoy, who is now called Clara Selfridge, who is the daughter of Davy and Linda Hoy, about the abuse. She says, I told Clara who it was, and then she said, I thought when I told someone what happened that that would be it. It would be out there. And then she said she also told a youth pastor called Stephen Matthews about the abuse.
And she said she did this because he came across as a guy who was trustworthy. And then she said she remembers after she told him that he had tears in his eyes.
Now, she also said that Geoffrey Donaldson came to this Christian centre and apologised to her.
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Chapter 4: What details were revealed about the complainants' testimonies?
But then what she did say is that in July or August of 2023, that Linda Hoy, one of the people who ran this Christian family centre, contacted her to say that Eleanor Donaldson wanted to meet with her. She told the court that she had never responded to that request.
And then under questioning from prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh Casey, she confirmed that she had since passed that message on to the police.
Was Witness B cross-examined by the defence barristers today?
She was only cross-examined by CiarƔn Vaughan Casey. He's representing Geoffrey Donaldson. And he will continue that cross-examination tomorrow. The court ran on until close to four o'clock.
Chapter 5: What was the response of Jeffrey Donaldson to the allegations?
And the witness was then told she was excused for the day as were the jury. But she will be back again tomorrow for further cross-examination.
Alison Morris, thank you very much. We at the Belltel want to earn your trust and our members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at belfasttelegraph.co.uk forward slash our journalism. This is a Belltel and Crime World podcast.