What a Fall, from Mr Perfect, Allegations, Courts will Decide?

Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is accused of the rape and sex abuse of one complainant and of sexually abusing a second.

And Lady Eleanor Donaldson faces allegation of aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault as well as offences of child cruelty.

There were chaotic scenes outside Newry Courthouse as watchers and press pushed forward against uniformed officers to capture shots of the veteran unionist leader, Northern Ireland’s longest serving MP.

With the court packed to the rafters with press and more than 120 others signed in by videolink, District Judge Eamon King warned it should be clear to everyone that “it is a criminal offence to record any proceedings that occur in a courtroom”.

Wearing a grey suit, white shirt and light blue tie as he stood in the dock, Mr Donaldson, 61, was flanked by prison officers as he stood in the dock.

He confirmed his name and date of birth and also that he understood the 11 charges against him.

In relation to the complainant he is alleged to have raped, he faces a total of five charges including four counts of indecent assault and a single charge of rape.

All are alleged to have been committed on dates unknown between January 1 1985 and January 1 1991.

In relation to the second complainant, he faces five charges of indecent assault and one charge of gross indecency towards a child, allegedly committed on dates between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2006.

Standing alongside her husband in the dock and wearing a black suit, 58-year-old Lady Eleanor also confirmed her name, date of birth and also that she understood the four charges against her.

She is accused of aiding and abetting her husband in rape, aiding and abetting with indecent assault and two counts of child cruelty in relation to the two complainants in that she allegedly wilfully neglected them.

The particulars of the aiding and abetting rape charge alleges that the politician raped the female on “knowing that she did not so consent or being reckless as to whether the said person so consented” and that Mrs Donaldson “did aid, abet, counsel and procure the commission of the said offence.”

BACK ON BAIL

Freeing the pair on their own bail of £350, around €400, and granting the bail variations, DJ King adjourned the case to May 22 and formally excused them from attending.

While Lady Eleanor’s defence solicitor Richard Monteith asked if she could be allowed to be freed from the court to sign her own bail, the judge said that “ordinarily defendants go downstairs to sign their bail.”

He told the court given “tensions” associated with the case, he saw no reason to depart from that.

The prison officers lead the accused from the court to the cells downstairs.

While the alleged offender’s party membership was also suspended “pending the outcome of a judicial process,” Sir Jeffrey remains MP for the Lagan Valley constituency, a seat he has held since 1997.