{"id":3805,"date":"2026-05-28T13:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/jeffrey-donaldson-wrote-to-alleged-victim-of-child-sex-abuse-expressing-regret\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:43:16","slug":"jeffrey-donaldson-wrote-to-alleged-victim-of-child-sex-abuse-expressing-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/jeffrey-donaldson-wrote-to-alleged-victim-of-child-sex-abuse-expressing-regret\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Donaldson &#8216;wrote to alleged victim of child sex abuse expressing regret&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_d097ad\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson penned a letter to a woman who accused him of sexually abusing her as a child saying he had \u201cregret\u201d for \u201call the hurt, pain and distress I have caused,\u201d a court heard.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\"><\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37217494\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at Newry Crown Court\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37217494.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Sir-Jeffrey-Donaldson-court-case.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37217494.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_Sir-Jeffrey-Donaldson-court-case.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37217494.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_Sir-Jeffrey-Donaldson-court-case.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37217494.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Sir-Jeffrey-Donaldson-court-case.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at Newry Crown Court\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at Newry Crown Court<cite aria-label=\"Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sir Jeffrey Donaldson wrote a letter to a woman who has accused him of sexually abusing her as a child expressing \u201cregret\u201d for \u201call the hurt, pain and distress I have caused\u201d, his trial has heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The woman told the court that she had thought the letter was an attempt by the former DUP leader \u201cto apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Donaldson, 63, is on trial at Newry Crown Court accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The ex-MP has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The charges span a time period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Donaldson\u2019s wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson \u2013 from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband\u2019s alleged offending.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She is facing a trial of the facts after Judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The trial of the facts will test the evidence in the case, but cannot result in a criminal conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The first witness in the trial, known as Complainant A, was asked questions by prosecuting barrister Rosemary Walsh KC on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The complainant was not in the courtroom, but appeared via a videolink.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ms Walsh read out a letter which Complainant A said had been written to her by Jeffrey Donaldson in June 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In the letter, Donaldson expressed \u201chow much I truly regret all the hurt, pain and distressed I have caused\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The letter said he took \u201cfull responsibility for it all\u201d and had sought help from God.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The jury heard he described himself in the letter as a \u201csinner\u201d and had failed to address his \u201csinful nature for far too many years\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The letter continued: \u201cI will regret this to my dying day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It added: \u201cI understand how deep the wounds are caused by my sinful and selfish actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The letter described a \u201cdark situation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ms Walsh asked Complainant A what she believed the letter to be about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She responded: \u201cI felt he was trying to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred, but he didn\u2019t want to say that formally in writing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt felt like an apology letter and it felt like it was written with a lot of guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Evidence in the trial began earlier with the video of a police interview with Complainant A from March 2024, weeks before the Donaldsons were arrested, being played to the jury of seven men and five women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Donaldson, wearing a dark grey suit, sat in the dock between two court staff as the video was played.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In the interview, the complainant said she had been of primary school age when Donaldson was \u201cphysical\u201d with her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She recalled waking up in the middle of the night on several occasions with a sexual feeling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said she later started to have nightmares about \u201cadult men doing horrible things to children\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said from primary school age, Donaldson had put his hand up her top \u2013 and this \u201chappened for quite a while\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In her interview, she said Donaldson made comments about the size of her breasts as she got older.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said she remembered a \u201csignificant event\u201d when she was a young teenager when Donaldson \u201cperched\u201d over the top of her, holding a light and had looked at her \u201cprivate parts\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said: \u201cI couldn\u2019t move initially because I didn\u2019t know what had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said on another occasion Donaldson kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said this and similar incidents were \u201cvery much laughed off as a joke\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Complainant A said when she was in her 20s, she understood that the behaviour she claimed had taken place was \u201cnot normal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said: \u201cI became very angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said she had \u201cwatched him in a public role, getting accolade after accolade\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In the interview, she was asked by a police officer about her earliest memory of waking up in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said: \u201cI felt very dirty for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She added: \u201cIt feels black, there is darkness around it, it is black in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The trial, which is expected to last between three and four weeks, continues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/jeffery-donaldson-wrote-letter-victim-37217478\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson penned a letter to a woman who accused him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Sir-Jeffrey-Donaldson-court-case.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}