{"id":531686,"date":"2026-06-12T14:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/531686\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:06:13","slug":"jeffrey-donaldson-denies-meeting-with-accuser-was-to-nip-in-the-bud-abuse-allegations-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/531686\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Donaldson denies meeting with accuser was to \u2018nip in the bud\u2019 abuse allegations \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a> has denied he needed to meet one of the women who accuses him of sexually abusing her to \u201cnip in the bud\u201d the allegations, the jury in his trial has heard.<\/p>\n

The former DUP<\/a> leader also said the Christian minister who arranged the meeting in the late 1990s was \u201cmistaken\u201d in his evidence to the court that it was set up to discuss a \u201cserious\u201d allegation made against him by one of the two women who claim he sexually abused them as children.<\/p>\n

On his second day in the witness box at Newry<\/a> Crown Court, prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh put it to Donaldson that he had gone to the meeting with Complainant B, organised by David Hoy from the Christian Family Centre in Armoy, Co Antrim, \u201cbecause you knew this was something you needed to nip in the bud?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not true,\u201d Donaldson replied. \u201cHe didn\u2019t say you need to get up to Armoy as there are serious issues to deal with. It was a positive experience. I went willingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was something I had to nip in the bud, why would I wait for a phone call from David Hoy?\u201d <\/p>\n

The prosecution barrister put it to Donaldson that Hoy\u2019s \u201cevidence to this court was that an allegation had been made\u201d.<\/p>\n

She asked the defendant: \u201cHas he made that up?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is mistaken in his recollection,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cThere was no mention of an allegation.\u201d <\/p>\n

The prosecution barrister suggested to Donaldson that \u201cyou took control of this meeting, didn\u2019t you\u201d. She said Donaldson knew what it was about and said he was \u201ctruly sorry\u201d.<\/p>\n

This \u201cdidn\u2019t happen,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not true to characterise this meeting as I somehow took control \u2026 I know what this is about, let\u2019s get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t want \u2026 to go through the allegations, you shut her [Complainant B] down,\u201d the prosecution barrister said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea I cut her off and said, we\u2019ll have none of that, that\u2019s absolutely not true,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cI didn\u2019t take control, I didn\u2019t march into that meeting and say \u2018okay, I know what this is about, I\u2019m sorry\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jeffrey Donaldson (63), with an address in Dromore, Co Down, is accused of 18 offences \u2013 one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency with or towards a child, and 13 counts of indecent assault on a female, on dates between 1985 and 2008. He denies the charges. <\/p>\n

His wife, Eleanor Donaldson (60), of the same address, is charged with five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with the charges faced by her husband \u2013 charges she denies. <\/p>\n

Eleanor Donaldson is not present in court as she has been ruled unfit to stand trial on the basis of medical evidence and will instead face a trial of the facts \u2013 which replaces a criminal trial in such circumstances. <\/p>\n

On Friday morning, Jeffrey Donaldson was cross-examined by Walsh about the meeting in Armoy, about which Complainant B told police that Donaldson \u201ccame and apologised to me … he apologised for what he\u2019d done to me in the past\u201d.<\/p>\n

Walsh put it to Donaldson that the reason he needed to attend the meeting was because the minister \u201cwas going to talk about a very sensitive matter\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re saying the reason I needed to meet was because I was worried he was going to tell me something harmful, that\u2019s not the case,\u201d Donaldson replied. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m saying,\u201d the barrister said. \u201cYou had to go on the offensive to deal with it \u2026 you go precisely because you\u2019re worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Donaldson replied. <\/p>\n

Questioning him about the discussion during the meeting, Walsh said the evidence to the court from David Hoy, and his wife Linda \u2013 both of whom were present \u2013 was that \u201cyou asked for forgiveness\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not use the word forgiveness \u2026 I didn\u2019t say that,\u201d Donaldson said, adding, \u201cthey [the Hoys] are good people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood people who wouldn\u2019t come to court and make things up?\u201d the prosecution barrister asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not saying that, some people remember things better \u2026 I am simply saying my recollection of the meeting,\u201d Donaldson said. <\/p>\n

The prosecution barrister put it to him that on Thursday, Donaldson had suggested during cross-examination that the reason for Complainant B\u2019s claim in the late 1990s was \u201cI\u2019m on the up and up as an aspiring member of parliament, maybe she resents that,\u201d and asked what he thought had motivated her to go to the police in 2024. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the reason. It seemed [Complainants B and A] talked quite a bit and decided to go to the police. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s true?\u201d the prosecution barrister asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said very clearly, the allegations that have been made are untrue,\u201d Donaldson replied.<\/p>\n

The trial continues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Donaldson has denied he needed to meet one of the women who accuses him of sexually abusing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,17927,4776,13,14,6,41435,11,12,15,16,5,954,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-531686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-down","tag-dup-links","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-jeffrey-donaldson","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116737526374599885","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}