World News | Former Northern Ireland Unionist Leader Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Offense Charges
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The former leader of Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of rape and other sexual offenses that date back nearly four decades.
London, Sep 10 (AP) The former leader of Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of rape and other sexual offenses that date back nearly four decades.
Jeffrey Donaldson, 61, denied each of the charges against him: one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two alleged victims between 1985 and 2008.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 58, pleaded not guilty in Newry Crown Court to aiding and abetting the alleged crimes.
A trial date was set for March 2025.
Donaldson resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and quit as a lawmaker in the U.K. Parliament after he was arrested on March 28.
His resignation shocked the DUP just months after the party agreed to return to Northern Ireland's on-again, off-again power-sharing government after he won concessions on Britain's post-Brexit trading arrangements with the European Union.
As leader of the DUP between 2021 and 2023, he was the most powerful figure in Northern Ireland's unionist movement, which seeks to maintain the region's historic ties to the United Kingdom. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)