A letter written by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson expressing "regret" for "hurt, pain and distress" was definitely not about the sexual abuse allegations against him, his lawyer told Newry Crown Court on Thursday. Because when you're facing 18 sex abuse charges including rape, context is everything.
Kieran Vaughan KC, representing the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, made the claim while cross-examining one of Sir Jeffrey's two alleged victims, known as Complainant A. The June 2020 letter was read aloud in court, with Complainant A previously testifying she believed it was an attempt "to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred."
Vaughan disagreed, arguing that Complainant A had failed to provide police with the "proper context" when she handed over the letter after being interviewed in March 2024. "This has nothing to do with you and sexual assault," he asserted, claiming Sir Jeffrey was actually apologising for other, unspecified "behaviour."
Complainant A wasn't buying it. She told the court the letter was "an apology for what he did to me," adding: "He would never write out what he has done in a letter but he could heavily suggest and hint that he was sorry for it. In his own way, he's using that letter as a form of apology but it's not an apology. You can acknowledge that you have sinned. There's no detail of what that sin was."
Vaughan then pointed to various communications between the two that he characterised as "friendly banter" - presumably the kind of banter that doesn't involve allegations of rubbing breasts, inappropriate kissing, or shining a light on genital areas, which Complainant A alleges occurred in three separate incidents between 1999 and 2008.
"The facts are the facts and I'm sticking to those," she said.
Sir Jeffrey denies all 18 charges, including acts of gross indecency and indecent assault against Complainant A when she was a child. Additional offences dating back to 1985, including a rape charge, relate to a second woman, Complainant B, also when she was a child.
Sir Jeffrey's wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, faces five related charges of aiding and abetting, which she has denied. She has been found unfit for a conventional trial under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order, so a trial of the facts is being held without her participation.