The prosecution case in the trial of the former DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, for sexual offences opens on Wednesday at Newry Crown Court.
Donaldson, with an address in Dromore, Co Down, is accused of 18 offences – one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency with or towards a child, and 13 counts of indecent assault on a female – on dates between 1987 and 2008. He denies the charges.
The 63-year-old was present in court on Tuesday for the first stage of the trial, the selection and swearing in of a jury under Judge Paul Ramsey.
Proceedings were resuming on Wednesday with the opening of the prosecution case.
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Eleanor Donaldson (60), with the same address, is charged with five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with the charges faced by her husband. She denies the charges.
She was not present in court on Tuesday as she has been ruled unfit to stand trial on the basis of medical evidence.
Instead, she will face a trial of the facts, which will run concurrently with her husband’s trial. A trial of the facts takes the place of a criminal trial where a court has ruled the defendant is medically unfit to stand trial.
It will run concurrently with her husband’s trial, and the jury will determine, on the basis of evidence already given, whether the defendant committed the acts they are charged with.
It cannot result in a conviction, but the jury can make a finding that the defendant committed the act, or it can acquit.
