Jeffrey Donaldson

[Cafog]

Is there a thread yet that I haven't found? Shocked to hear this news this morning about the recently knighted MP and leader of the DUP being charged with historical sex offences along with his wife. And disgusted at all those in a froth on social media who haven't even spared a thought for his potential victims.

I understand there were different rumours about Jefferys behaviour before now but none of them related to the offences he has been charged withd

Yeah fair enough @Ruralrules , I've reported my post and asked MN to delete it. My point was that it may not be anywhere near as big a case as other posters are implying, and may well be a sorry tale sadly familiar to many. In which case it's much less likely that others covered anything up.

I think you're right but sure who really knows anyone at the end of the day!

Thank you for this, of course that may well be the case

Ah remember those innocent days when Iris Robinson was shamed and banished in disgrace for her dalliance with a consenting adult (at least we got the Lock Keeper's out of it).

I feel like the word "children" was in the news stories this morning and then removed later when he was named but my memory is shocking so that might not be the case. I didn't take screenshots anyway!

In one way I'm shocked and in another way I'm not. There have been so many revelations about famous people in recent years. Nobody should be above suspicion.

Obviously it remains to be seen if he's found guilty of the charges. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. I wouldn't like to say anything that might prejudice a trial. But I'll be keeping a close eye on the court proceedings.

I always try to take that position but sometimes it's not easy!

I wonder if the trial will be held "in camera" thus assuring anonymity for the alleged victims? I'm not sure.

I hope so if that's what they want. Sadly it just may not to possible to meaningfully preserve their anonymity but presumably they knew that. Hopefully they have lots of support.

It really isn’t.

I worry about Iris. Peter is not a good man and no one has seen her in a long time.

Today's news was a shock to me. My thoughts and best wishes to the brave victim(s) who reported this. I hope you see justice.

Such bravery from the women who came forward!

I believe it's part of his bail conditions to not be in contact with the woman arrested, so he'll be living in his London residence.

The treatment of Iris was almost Victorian in terms of her being described as mentally ill etc.
They seem to spend a lot of time in Florida and I do hope she's happy.
Looking back it's so odd how Peter Robinson did the TV interview about it all and she was sent off to a clinic in London.

Why did you feel the need to say “It does happen in all parties of course”?

This is the Belfast Live story which broke it by by reporting on a PSNI statement. It didn't mention names but now the DUP, Orange Order and JD himself have made statements confirming he was arrested, it's clear this was the same arrests.

So yeh, children. 🤮

www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/husband-wife-co-down-charged-28907532

I'm the one urging extra caution on posting here because the DUP are so litigious, so I'm going to word this carefully...

There's often talk about super injunctions in NI. Some people on twitter believe that there may be a number in place in NI relating to people in the public eye. Some SIs can be time-bound rather than indefinite.

Sorry maybe thats too cryptic. But I'm afraid to spell out what I mean more. Maybe some of you will get what I mean.

I think it's best just not discuss the specifics here at all. Nobody would want to derail the trial.

There are currently 7 super injunctions live here in NI. I'm not suggesting any are relating to what's being discussed here, just general information. You can make your own conclusions about this.

This is official information obtained from a question tabled in the NI Assembly on super injunctions and has been reported on in the Belfast Telegraph on 11th March, so it's public knowledge.

@powershowerforanhour was the issue with Iris Robinson not that before the details of her affair were discovered, she had made homophobic statements? I think that’s why it get extra attention on top of the usual salient interest, political point scoring etc

Because it does. As a republican socialist it would be easy for me to come on here saying ' oh well that's just typical of the DUP'.

But someone would soon point to examples in all the other parties.

So little traffic on this post! If an English MP was accused of rape posters would be all over it…

And the thread would be deleted because the more people post on it, the more people are going to get carried away and post things that could prejudice a fair trial. The alleged victim/s deserve the alleged rapist to have a fair trial, so that guilt (or otherwise) can be established.