Donaldson sex abuse allegations cannot be 'brushed under the carpet any longer', jury told

Donaldson sex abuse allegations cannot be 'brushed under the carpet any longer', jury told 20 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Lyndsey Telford BBC News NI, at Newry Crown Court PA Media The jury in the sex abuse trial of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been told that the consequences of what he allegedly did to two women when they were children cannot be "brushed under the carpet any longer" and he should be found guilty. In her closing speech, prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh KC said the consequences of the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader's actions, and to a lesser extent his wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson's, were why "we are all here today". Sir Jeffrey has pleaded not guilty to 18 sex abuse charges, including one count of rape, allegedly committed between 1985 and 2008. Lady Donaldson denies five related charges of aiding and abetting. She is facing a trial of the facts and is not participating in proceedings. In her final remarks of the closing speech, Walsh said the court was not assembled because the two alleged victims, known as Complainant A and Complainant B, had "fabricated their accounts or because they were conjuring up lies to tell". She added they were there "because the sexual abuse they suffered has consequences – consequences that cannot be ignored and brushed under the carpet any longer". Walsh said that when the evidence was "pieced together", it showed that Complainant A and Complainant B were "telling the truth about what happened to them". "And that is why they have given evidence to this court," she added. "Not because they are promoting a pack of malicious lies for absolutely no good reason. But because this is what happened to them and they made a decision to call it out. "They put their heads above the parapet and braced for what was coming at them." Earlier, Walsh asked the jury to recall the "pain and hurt still so visible" from Complainant A and B. She described "the long and arduous process" the women had experienced after making their allegations. "This is no walk in the park. This is not something they are doing for the fun of it or the sake of it," she said. Walsh told the jury it was human nature to "box" or "shelve" feelings away – and that was what Complainant A and B had done over the years. However, she said there had been "turning points" in both women's lives that prompted them to finally report their allegations to the police in March 2024. "Today you see two women at a time when they are ready for this, but they've not always been that way," Walsh said. The barrister told the jury that Complainant A knew "this would not be a normal case" because of who Sir Jeffrey was. "She had to grapple with all the connotations that came with that," Walsh said. "It was a huge, huge decision to make and not one she made lightly." Walsh described how Complainant B had blamed herself for Complainant A's alleged abuse because she had not made her allegations sooner. She said despite Complainant B