4. Eleanor accused of seeing abuse

Tara Mills· Host0:00

New accusations in court today that Lady Eleanor Donaldson saw her husband touch a child under her clothing and rub his hand on the girl's chest, but did nothing to stop it.

Declan Harvey· Host0:09

The woman who said this said it happened to her when she was a child, and she told the court, "The facts are the facts, and I'm sticking to those." It was an intense day of exchanges between this alleged victim and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's defense barrister.

Tara Mills· Host0:24

And some extraordinary detail about Lady Donaldson bugging her husband's car over suspicions he was having an affair with a constituent. Sir Jeffrey and his wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, deny all the charges against them. I was in court.

Declan Harvey· Host0:38

This is a special series from the State of Us podcast from the BBC in Northern Ireland. This is the Donaldson sex abuse trial. [pensive music] Hello, I'm Declan Harvey. I'm in our studio in Belfast.

Tara Mills· Host0:53

And I'm Tara Mills. I'm here in Newry in our remote studio near the Crown Court, where I heard the second day of evidence from Complainant A, one of the two women who accuse Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of sexual assault in this case. And a reminder that in this series, there will be details that some people find distressing.

Declan Harvey· Host1:10

Yeah, and maybe it is worth, just before we get into the evidence and detail, um, bringing you kind of up to speed as to, um, what this case involves, as Sir Jeffrey is accused of acts of gross indecency and indecent assault against, uh, Complainant A when she was a child,