Donaldson letter to sex abuse accuser had 'nothing to do with allegations', court hears

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is on trial for 18 sex abuse charges, including rape, and denies all offences. A June 2020 letter he wrote to a woman identified as Complainant A was read in court. The letter expressed regret for hurt, pain, and distress caused. Complainant A said she believed the letter was an attempt to apologise for the abuse and that it lacked sufficient detail. Kieran Vaughan KC argued the letter had nothing to do with the sexual assault allegations and was in a different context, including that Complainant A did not provide that context to police when she gave the letter after interviews in March 2024. Complainant A also rejected claims that the alleged incidents never happened.

"Sir Jeffrey wrote her a letter in June 2020, which was read out in court on Thursday, in which he expressed "regret" for the "hurt, pain and distress" he had caused. Complainant A previously told the court she thought the letter was an attempt by him "to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred". However, Vaughan said that is not the "proper context". The lawyer also claimed that Complainant A had not made the police aware of the context when she gave them the letter after they interviewed her in March 2024."

"Vaughan put it to her: "This has nothing to do with you and sexual assault." He stated Sir Jeffrey was apologising for other "behaviour". Complainant A said she believed the letter was "an apology for what he did to me". "He would never write out what he has done in a letter but he could heavily suggest and hint that he was sorry for it. "In his own way, he's using that letter as a form of apology but it's not an apology. "You can acknowledge that you have sinned. There's no detail of what that sin was." She said that was "not enough"."

"Vaughan later referred to various communications between Complainant A and Sir Jeffrey which, he suggested, showed a "friendly banter" at variance with the abuse allegations. Complainant A also rejected the lawyer's claims that the alleged sexual abuse incidents never happened. She alleges that in three incidents, the 63-year-old rub"

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