How four weeks in court unravelled 'sinful and deceitful' Jeffrey Donaldson

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson almost looked like he walked into court straight from the House of Commons on the first day of his sex abuse trial at Newry Crown Court.

Calm and relaxed, shorn of the short beard he'd sported at some previous court appearances and smartly dressed in a blue suit and green tie, it was like the intervening two years since his sudden and shocking arrest had never happened.

When the judge asked the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader if he was ready to begin, he replied confidently: "Yes."

But over the next four weeks, as the 29-year Westminster veteran heard the case against him over 18 charges, allegedly committed against two women when they were children, he cut an increasingly lonely figure.

His wife, and co-accused, Lady Eleanor Donaldson was not by his side or in court at all, having been found unfit to face a conventional trial on mental health grounds.

No other witnesses, other than Donaldson himself, were called to give evidence in his defence.

One of the UK's most high-profile politicians, a man who had spent his career around people, was on his own, as the jury delivered their verdicts - guilty of all 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.

His wife was facing a trial of the facts, meaning she could not be found guilty. But in five charges, including four related to aiding and abetting, the jury found she had done the acts.

As an MP, Donaldson was a regular fixture at events in his constituency of Lagan Valley - from school fetes to church services, charity fundraisers to public meetings, he was there.

But in the two years since he was arrested and charged, he was only seen in public to attend various court hearings.

One person in Lagan Valley - not a natural political supporter - summed it up: "I never voted for him, but you always just thought he was a decent, family man."

How Jeffrey Donaldson's trial began

The trial's first witnesses were the women who had accused Donaldson, known as Complainant A and Complainant B so as to maintain their right to anonymity.

They both gave evidence by video link, looking out into the court from a large TV above the judge.

When they first appeared on screen, and for most of their time giving evidence, Donaldson stared at them with a look of what seemed like pity or sadness on his face.

He often made notes, scribbling in an A4 hardback notebook, and sometimes shook his head at parts of their testimony.

Donaldson could join in the rare moments of levity too, such as when the judge joked that the jurors did not need to spend much time in the gym as they were in and out of their seats so often to allow lawyers to deal with legal matters in their absence.

Those in the courtroom laughed. Donaldson laughed with them.

On other occasions, the pressure did seem to show.

On the first day of Complainant A's evidence, Donaldson seemed to chew his lower lip as he waited for her to appear on screen.

At one point, when she talked about her Christian values, his eyes welled with tears.

Yet he remained impassive as the court heard of his infidelity to his wife, including an affair in 2008 described as "one of many".

A Christian theme in court

Whether through the language used by those testifying, the quoting of bible verses or the Ichthys - otherwise known as the 'Jesus fish' - pinned to Donaldson's lapel, Christianity was a regular theme over the course of the trial.

Through his life in the public spotlight, the former DUP leader had often spoken of his faith, including in an interview just months before his arrest in which he said it helped "anchor" him in the "storms" of politics.

His victims talked of their faith too.

Complainant B explained why she accepted an apology from Donaldson in the 1990s, which he denied in court was for any form of sexual misconduct.

"I accepted the apology and, as far as I understood when I became a Christian, you tried to forgive and get on with your life and that is what I tried to do," she said.

Later in the trial, Davey and Linda Hoy, who ran an organisation called the Christian Family Centre, gave evidence.

The meeting where Complainant B said Donaldson had apologised took place in the Hoys' living room.

Davey Hoy, softly spoken and with a neat white beard, produced his diaries from the time, where the meeting was clearly recorded.

Beside it were four versus from the Bible, including Proverbs 15:1 ("A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger") and 16:24 ("Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones").

Davey Hoy said he thought he had noted these verses down after Donaldson had asked for forgiveness.

'What would the neighbours think?'

After Donaldson's victims finished giving evidence, the trial was due to hear from its first in-person witnesses.

The first was Complainant A's husband.

The atmosphere in the courtroom felt different.

The witness broke down and sobbed as he recounted his wife telling him about the abuse she had suffered.

Donaldson looked more uncomfortable than he had at any point up until then.

There was also more insight into the defendant's marriage, when the witness outlined conversations he had with Eleanor Donaldson, at one point challenging her on why she stayed with him.

She replied: "If I was to leave Jeffrey, what would the neighbours think?"

It was on day 10 that we first heard the voice of Donaldson, albeit via recordings of his police interview from the day of his arrest.

At the start of the first tape his voice was croaky and a little weak as he gave his full name - Jeffrey Mark Donaldson - and date of birth.

But he soon sounded more like the man we once knew from Commons debates or Stormont press conferences.

He grew more confident, but also seemingly more shocked as the allegations were put to him.

At times, he sounded baffled and defensive. His answers began to ramble slightly as the interviews dragged on.

When confronted with the allegation that he had kissed Complainant A and put his tongue in her mouth, he sounded genuinely anguished.

"Oh...no," he weakly replied.

Donaldson takes the stand

At the end of week three, he entered the witness stand.

When being questioned by his barrister, Kieran Vaughan KC, he was defiant in his denials.

Of the rape allegation by Complainant B, he said: "It just didn't happen. I am absolutely crystal clear about that.

"It is just simply not true."

At one point, he choked back tears.

There was also discomfort, as he told the court about the affair in 2008.

It had been with a divorced woman in London, he told the jury, and it had caused his wife "hurt and pain".

He said he would regret it until his dying day, as he regretted other things he had done.

But he had not, he insisted, committed the offences he was charged with.

At one point he told his barrister: "We are all sinners Mr Vaughan, I am a sinner.

"Every day we ask God for forgiveness."

When prosecuting barrister Rosemary Walsh KC got to her feet, it was time for Donaldson to face tougher lines of questioning.

For much of the first session of his cross-examination, he seemed confident, composed and assured.

But, when court returned on Friday for his second day on the stand, Donaldson's composure began to crack.

Walsh tried to unravel his defence, at one stage focusing heavily on the meeting with Complainant B in the late 1990s.

He said he did not accept the meeting to "nip it in the bud"; denied taking control as soon as he walked in the room; and told Walsh he did not remember tears from Complainant B when it ended

But, at times, it seemed he was struggling to produce coherent answers.

His responses became longer and drifted off topic.

At times he talked over Walsh and, on a couple of occasions, she asked him not to answer a question that she had not yet asked him.

By the end of his second day, he had been questioned on the stand for almost 10 hours.

Walsh put it to him that a pattern had emerged down the years - not of sexual abuse but of seeking forgiveness by using his faith and the faith of his victims.

She said one example was the letter to Complainant A in 2020.

Donaldson replied: "When you have wronged someone, what is wrong with seeking forgiveness?"

But he maintained the letter had nothing to do with the allegations.

At the end of her cross-examination, Walsh returned to the issue of lies.

"The only person telling lies is you," she told him.

"You were sinful and deceitful."

By day 20 of the trial, and after 10 hours deliberating, the jury had a unanimous verdict.

In the end, they agreed with Rosemary Walsh.

The only person telling lies was the defendant.

Judge Paul Ramsey remanded him in custody and told him he was facing a lengthy sentence.

Donaldson showed no emotion as he was led out of the dock and into a prison van.

But four weeks after his confident walk into court, one of Northern Ireland's most high-profile politicians was left to face up to his fate, as a convicted child sex abuser, alone.