A LEGAL bid by Eleanor Donaldson, wife of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, to have two charges against her dropped in a historic sex offences case has been rejected by Newry Crown Court.
The Donaldsons were arrested and charged last year with multiple offences.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (62) faces eighteen historic charges including one count of rape, four of gross indecency, and 13 of indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mrs Donaldson (58) faces five charges of aiding and abetting. She has also pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Judge Paul Ramsey heard a no-bill application from Mrs. Donaldson’s legal team, seeking to dismiss two of the five charges against her. This legal mechanism allows a judge to drop a case before trial if there is insufficient evidence.
Details of the evidence presented in court cannot be reported yet.
During a brief hearing this week, Judge Ramsey rejected the application, meaning the case against both Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Lady Donaldson will proceed to trial later in march.
Lady Donaldson, who is represented by Ian Turkington KC, was absent from the court due to illness.
Following the ruling, her legal team confirmed she would plead not guilty to the two charges, in addition to the three she has already denied.
Jeffrey Donaldson faces 18 charges, and was not required in court. He is represented by renowned criminal defence barrister Kieran Vaughan KC. He was appointed in February to head the legal team representing the former DUP leader.
Vaughan, widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading trial and appellate lawyers, was recently instructed by Donaldson’s solicitors. He is a senior silk at London-based MC Chambers, and has built a formidable reputation over his 22-year career. He has defended clients in some of the most serious and high-profile criminal cases across the UK and Northern Ireland.
On foot of the charges being laid against him, Donaldson — the long-standing Lagan Valley MP — resigned as DUP leader on March 29, 2024, and was suspended from the party. He had recently led the DUP back into Stormont after a two-year boycott, and was widely applauded for the breakthrough.
The trial is scheduled to begin on March 24.