{"id":473419,"date":"2026-05-29T17:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/473419\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T17:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:20:09","slug":"jeffrey-donaldsons-wife-had-listening-device-planted-in-car-due-to-suspicion-of-affair-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/473419\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Donaldson\u2019s wife had listening device planted in car due to suspicion of affair \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman who has accused Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a> of sexually abusing her as a child has rejected suggestions that a letter of \u201capology\u201d he wrote her did not relate to the abuse but was instead linked to an extramarital affair, Newry crown court has heard.<\/p>\n

The woman, known as Complainant A, described the former DUP<\/a> leader as a \u201cvery clever man\u201d who would not admit to abuse in a letter he sent in June 2020, in which he said he regretted \u201call the hurt, pain and distress I have caused\u201d and described himself as a \u201csinner\u201d.<\/p>\n

The jury of seven men and five women also heard Donaldson\u2019s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, had a listening device planted in his car because she suspected he was having an affair with a constituent.<\/p>\n

During cross-examination on the second day of evidence, Complainant A \u2013 whose identity is protected by law \u2013 told the jury she believed the letter was one of \u201capology for what he [Donaldson] did to me over the years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Defence lawyer Kieran Vaughan asked Complainant A why she did not hand the letter to police until three days after the Police Service of Northern Ireland<\/a> interviewed her in 2024.<\/p>\n

The witness said she \u201ccouldn\u2019t recall\u201d the reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was relevant at the time … [but] I think it is very relevant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Vaughan suggested that letter did not relate to the alleged childhood sexual abuse but had a different \u201ccontext\u201d and that Donaldson was apologising for other behaviour.<\/p>\n

Complainant A rejected the defence barrister\u2019s version of events.<\/p>\n

The defence barrister said the \u201cproper context of this letter is a marital dispute that led to him being kicked out of the house\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Donaldsons split up for a period in 2020, the court heart, and Eleanor Donaldson had a listening device planted in his car to get evidence about a suspected affair.<\/p>\n

Under cross-examination, the defence lawyer put it to the witness that the letter \u201chad nothing to do with you\u201d and the alleged sexual assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wrote this [letter] specifically to me. It did not detail the words \u2018sexual abuse\u2019,\u201d Complainant A replied.<\/p>\n

There were \u201cheavy connotations of guilt and shame and asking for my forgiveness\u201d in the letter, she said. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Jeffrey Donaldson told alleged victim he would \u2018pray\u2019 for her and was \u2018seeking help from God\u2019, trial hearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Complainant A told the court the defendant was \u201ca very clever man … [and] given the success of his career, he would never had written what he had done [about the abuse] in a letter\u201d. <\/p>\n

She said he could \u201cheavily suggest it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can write a letter and you can hint at what you have done but that is not an apology,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is using that letter as a form of apology but it is not a form of apology I accept … because he is not acknowledging what he has done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman is one of two alleged female victims who has accused Donaldson of sexually abusing them as children.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Donaldson (63), with an address in Dromore, Co Down, is accused of 18 offences \u2013 one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency with or towards a child, and 13 counts of indecent assault on a female, on dates between 1985 and 2008. He denies the charges.<\/p>\n

His wife, Eleanor Donaldson (60), of the same address, is charged with five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with the charges faced by her husband \u2013 charges she denies.<\/p>\n

\"EleanorEleanor Donaldson. File photograph: Liam McBurney\/PA <\/p>\n

Eleanor Donaldson is not present in court as she has been ruled unfit to stand trial on the basis of medical evidence.She will instead face a trial of the facts \u2013 which replaces a criminal trial in such circumstances \u2013 which will run concurrently with her husband\u2019s trial, which began this week.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, Complainant A rejected suggestions by Vaughan that alleged abuse, including \u201ctouching of her breasts\u201d when she was 12 or 13 years of age by Donaldson, did not happen.<\/p>\n

It was also claimed by Complainant A that Eleanor Donaldson witnessed Jeffrey Donaldson touching her breasts but did not intervene.<\/p>\n

The defence barrister said this claim was \u201cnonsense\u201d.<\/p>\n

Complainant A replied: \u201cI would suggest that\u2019s very insulting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaughan also suggested that a separate incident, in which she alleged Donaldson shone a bright light at her \u201cgenital area\u201d while she was sleeping, did not happen in way she described.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe light was bright, blinding my ability to focus,\u201d she told the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe he was looking at my private parts. The light was moving and it was focused on my genital area.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was telling the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacts are facts and I am sticking to those,\u201d she told the barrister.<\/p>\n

The woman said she was \u201cconditioned\u201d to the abuse. \u201cThis is a practice that had spanned years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She had \u201clived with lies and secrets for most of my life\u201d, adding: \u201cI have tried to suppress what has been done to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday afternoon, the complainant told the court she had spoken to the head of safeguarding for the Presbyterian Church<\/a> in Ireland and the minister at her church in 2023. Jurors also heard she met a PSNI officer.<\/p>\n

Asked by Vaughan why she did not lodge a formal complaint with police at that time about the alleged abuse \u2013 she reported the allegations to the PSNI in March 2024 \u2013 she replied she was \u201cnot ready to do it\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was a \u201chuge, huge decision to make\u201d and one you did \u201cnot do lightly\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

Complainant A said she was aware the case would attract media attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it wouldn\u2019t be a normal case because of who he is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When she did report the abuse to police in 2024, she was \u201cextremely anxious\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn that occasion I very nearly changed my mind but didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cross-examination of Complainant A by Eleanor Donaldson\u2019s barrister will begin on Monday.<\/p>\n

The trial continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman who has accused Jeffrey Donaldson of sexually abusing her as a child has rejected suggestions that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[51250,26189,14063,42,14062,43,2443,145667,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-473419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-criminal-courts","tag-democratic-unionist-party","tag-dup-links","tag-headlines","tag-jeffrey-donaldson","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-presbyterian-church","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}