The BelTel

Jeffrey Donaldson has denied raping a seven-year-old child, under cross-examination, saying “it simply didn’t happen”. The former MP spent Thursday on the witness stand in Newry Crown Court. During the questioning, he admitted having an affair. Mr Donaldson is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. The sixty-three-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.  Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph. 

Violence sparked by a knife attack in Belfast continues. A Sudanese man has been charged over that incident.  Twelve police officers have been injured as they confront rioters and attempts to target minorities. The PSNI deployed a water cannon in Newtownabbey as they were pelted with bricks.  Meanwhile a health trusts says it is ‘horrified’ after a nurse ‘with different skin colour’ was chased into hospital by masked men.  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Kevin Scott. 

Northern Ireland has seen serious race riots for the third year in a row. Masked men staged violent protests in number of areas, but the trouble was concentrated in the greater Belfast area, with homes set alight off the Crumlin Road and in east Belfast.A Glider bus was set alight on the Newtownards Road and a police car was burned in Portadown. The disorder followed an attempted murder involving a knife in north Belfast on Monday night.A 30-year-old Sudanese man has been charged.   The Belfast Telegraph’s Visuals Editor Kevin Scott was on the ground in Belfast and Liam Tunney was in court. 

Eleanor Donaldson “met with a blank wall” when asking her husband Jeffrey about an incident with an alleged abuse – a jury has heard.  Eleanor Donaldson also accused her husband of infidelity during police interviews.    And Jeffrey Donaldson told police a letter sent to one of his alleged victims had nothing “to do with any allegation or any action involving sexual abuse”.  His trial over alleged sexual offences is continuing in Newry Crown Court.    The 63-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, including one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency.  His wife Eleanor Donaldson faces five related charges including aiding and abetting – she is facing a trial of the facts due to her mental health issues.   Allison Morris is covering the trial. 

A man believed by police to be Sudanese has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a violent incident involving a knife in north Belfast. The attack, which has been declared a ‘critical incident’, happened in Kinnaird Avenue shortly after 10.30 PM last night. The victim - a man in his 40s - is in hospital in a serious condition. A video of the attack has shocked and horrified the public in Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer labeled the incident as “sickening”. A major police investigation is ongoing. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph Visuals editor Kevin Scott This episode was recorded at 12PM on Tuesday 9 June.  

“I can’t get my head around” the abuse allegations made by Witness B, Jeffrey Donaldson told police. The tape of the former MP’s interview with the PSNI was played at his trial in Newry Crown Count on Monday morning.   The jury also heard Donaldson deny that he apologised to Witness in the case because he thought it would “make this go away”.  “I wasn’t doing anything untoward,” Jeffrey Donaldson told police officers in relation to accusations made by Witness A.  Donaldson (63) is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. He denies all 18 alleged offences. There are two alleged victims, Complainant A and Complainant B.  His wife Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.  Allison Morris was in court. 

Claire Sugden is the only independent MLA in Stormont. Co-opted into the assembly for east Londonderry in 2014, she served as justice minister from May 2016 to March 2017.  Widely considered a ‘liberal unionist’, in May 2021 she turned down an invitation from Doug Beattie to join the UUP but she says she’s no “soft unionist”.   But under John Burrow's leadership, could she consider joining the party now? Can liberal Unionism be revived? And besides Unionism, what else does Claire believe in?  And she tells the BelTel that she wants to continue as a politician but not “at the expense of my health anymore.” Claire Sugden joined Ciarán Dunbar. 

“Almost like a bomb went off”, that’s it was like, a witness told Newry Crown Court, when one of Jeffrey Donaldson’s alleged victims confided in her.   Claire Selfridge was giving evidence on the eighth day of the trial.  The jury also heard a claim that Jeffrey Donaldson asked one of the complainants to forgive him.  The former DUP leader is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. The 63-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.  The charges span a period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.  Eleanor Donaldson, 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.  Kurtis Reid reports. 

Newry Crown Court has heard Jeffrey Donaldson sent a message to a minister supporting one of his alleged victims, saying he wanted to “repent before them as he had before God.”  The husband of an alleged victim in the abuse trial has broken down as he gave evidence on Thursday.   63-year-old former MP Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to all the 18 charges he is facing, they include rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. His wife Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore, County Down denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.  She is facing a trial of the facts.   Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph.