Former Northern Ireland unionist leader pleads not guilty to sex offense charges
The former leader of Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and other sexual offenses
LONDON -- The former leader of Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of rape and other sexual offenses that date back nearly four decades.
Jeffrey Donaldson, 61, denied each of the charges against him: one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two alleged victims between 1985 and 2008.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 58, pleaded not guilty in Newry Crown Court to aiding and abetting the alleged crimes.
A trial date was set for March 2025.
Donaldson resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and quit as a lawmaker in the U.K. Parliament after he was arrested on March 28.
His resignation shocked the DUP just months after the party agreed to return to Northern Ireland’s on-again, off-again power-sharing government after he won concessions on Britain’s post-Brexit trading arrangements with the European Union.
As leader of the DUP between 2021 and 2023, he was the most powerful figure in Northern Ireland’s unionist movement, which seeks to maintain the region’s historic ties to the United Kingdom.