Woman tells court she was raped by ex-DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson while at school

A woman has told a trial she was raped and sexually abused by former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson while at primary school.

Warning: This article contains allegations that some readers may find upsetting

The woman, referred to as Complainant B, told Newry Crown Court via video link about hearing Donaldson's "heavy breathing" during the alleged rape.

The court heard the often tearful police interview with the older of the two alleged victims, who have both accused the former MP of sexual abuse when they were children.

Donaldson, 63, is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault.

The ex-MP has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences, including one count of rape between 1985 and 2008, involving two alleged victims who say they were children at the time.

Complainant B's police interview was played to the jury on Tuesday, where she told police that Donaldson abused her while she was of primary school age.

Recalling the alleged rape, she said Donaldson put his feet in between her feet and pulled her legs apart.

She said she felt "something different" - that Donaldson was positioned over the top of her.

The woman said: "First of all I didn't know what it was because I could still feel his hands."

She said his breathing was heavy, telling police: "I just kept thinking it'll be over soon, it'll be over soon."

Complainant B stated: "I hated it yet, I thought if I pretend to be asleep he'll just stop and lose interest."

The next day she felt "sick", she told jurors.

She said she couldn't tell anyone about the alleged incident of rape, so instead she "told her imaginary friend".

In the police interview, the complainant said that growing up she was "sexually abused by an adult".

She told police that Donaldson put his hands down her pants "a lot".

Referring to a second specific alleged assault, she claims that Donaldson "lifted up my top and started playing with my breasts", while standing in front of her.

The woman alleges that his wife Eleanor Donaldson witnessed this happening but did nothing about it.

Donaldson's wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, denies five charges of aiding and abetting her husband's alleged offending.

She is facing a parallel 'trial of the facts', after she was ruled unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds.

This 'trial of the facts' will test the evidence in the case, but cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Complainant B told the court she first told members of staff at a rehab centre in County Antrim about the allegations of sexual abuse.

In her police interview, she said a few members of staff there organised a meeting between her and Donaldson, where she claims he "apologised for what he'd done to me in the past".

Kieran Vaughan KC, representing Donaldson, put it to her that she "conjured up" details of the alleged sexual abuse, which Complainant B denied.

She told jurors: "what happened will live with me forever", later telling the barrister "what did I do, what did I wear, what did I say to make that ok?"

Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.

He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.

Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions.

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: Woman tells court she was raped by ex-DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson while at school