Witnesses in Donaldson case ‘not reliable enough’ for guilty verdicts – defence

By Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association

Two witnesses who have accused Jeffrey Donaldson of sexual offences are not “sufficiently reliable enough” for the jury to find him guilty, a barrister has told a court.

The former DUP leader’s barrister Kieran Vaughan also told the jury to “ignore the noise and focus on the evidence” when they consider their verdicts.

Donaldson, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.

The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency, and span a period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.

Complainants A and B have both given evidence at the trial.

Both women allege they were abused as children.

Jeffrey Donaldson spent two days in the witness box giving evidence in the trial last week.

Eleanor Donaldson, 60, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.

She is facing a trial of the facts on mental health grounds.

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

On Wednesday, Vaughan continued his closing speech, by dealing with allegations made by Complainant A against Donaldson.

He described an incident where A alleged Donaldson had used a light to stare at her genitals as a “misunderstanding”.

He said: “She has proven herself to be a very, very unreliable witness.”

Vaughan pointed out that Complainant A had stated her memories of the incident were “foggy”.

He said: “She is not sure about the very thing the prosecution invite you to be sure about.”

The barrister said: “We say the evidence shows that nothing happened.”

Vaughan said a separate allegation that Donaldson had rubbed A’s breasts lacks “any semblance of credibility”.

He said her evidence about the alleged incident showed she “is a witness who is capable of telling a terrible untruth”.

The barrister said A was a witness who was capable of “leaving things out of her evidence if she thinks it suits her own ends”.

He added that she was also capable of “adding things in if she thinks it suits her own ends”.

Vaughan said: “I end where I began – ignore the noise, focus on the evidence.”

He said if the jury focused on the evidence “you will see there are significant and fundamental issues” with the credibility of each of the complainants.

He added: “They are not sufficiently reliable enough to drive you to a sure conclusion that he is guilty.”

Vaughan invited the jury to find Donaldson not guilty of all the allegations that he faces.

The trial continues.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.