By Amanda Ferguson
NEWRY, Northern Ireland, May 27 (Reuters) - The prosecution began its case against former Northern Ireland politician Jeffrey Donaldson on historical sex offence charges on Wednesday by outlining the 18 charges he faces and his response to police interviews over the alleged events.
Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Donaldson, 63, denies the charges of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency.
The charges relate to two complainants and the events allegedly took place between 1985 and 2008.
Prosecutors gave a summary to the jury on the opening day of the trial of the charges and police interviews with the accused and complainants regarding the alleged events.
Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland's best-known politicians and longest-serving lawmaker in the British parliament when he was arrested and charged in March 2024. He immediately stepped down as head of the DUP, the region's largest pro-British unionist party.
The trial is expected to run through most of June, Judge Paul Ramsey said last week.
Ramsey also ruled last week that Donaldson's wife, Eleanor Donaldson, is unfit to stand trial on charges including aiding and abetting rape due to mental health issues. She has denied the charges that the prosecution also outlined on Wednesday.
Eleanor Donaldson will instead face a concurrent trial of the facts, where the jury is asked to decide whether or not the accused committed an offence, rather than whether they are guilty or not guilty. She was not present in court on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson; Writing by Padraic Halpin;Editing by Alison Williams)
