The jury in the trial of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has heard closing arguments from defence lawyers who argued the complainants are not reliable enough to secure a conviction.

Kieran Vaughan KC, representing Sir Jeffrey, told jurors at Newry Crown Court on Wednesday that they must ignore external noise and focus on the evidence. He submitted that the testimony of both women contained significant flaws, making it unsafe to find the defendant guilty.

Sir Jeffrey, 63, of Dromore, Co Down, has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency. The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1985 and 2008 against two females, referred to in court as Complainant A and Complainant B.

Mr Vaughan spent the final part of his address dealing with Complainant A, whom he described as a very unreliable witness. He pointed to an allegation that Sir Jeffrey used a light to look at her genitals, which the complainant herself said left her confused and with foggy memories. The barrister argued the evidence showed no offence took place.

He further challenged the credibility of a claim that Sir Jeffrey rubbed her breasts, saying her account lacked any semblance of credibility. Mr Vaughan highlighted that the complainant initially suggested Eleanor Donaldson witnessed the act but later said she could not say what Lady Donaldson saw, calling it a terrible untruth.

The barrister also referenced a letter Sir Jeffrey sent to the complainant in 2020, which she interpreted as an apology for abuse. Mr Vaughan said the letter was written in the context of a marital separation after his wife discovered an affair, not as an admission of criminal conduct.

Mr Vaughan noted that both complainants met before contacting police in March 2024 and exchanged a message saying “two voices are better than one,” urging the jury to treat them as connected witnesses rather than independent.

Lady Eleanor Donaldson, 60, faces five charges of aiding and abetting her husband's alleged offending. She is not attending the trial after being deemed unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds and is instead subject to a special hearing known as a trial of the facts, which cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Her barrister, Ian Turkington KC, told the jury that Lady Donaldson had not chosen her absence and was unable to defend herself in person. He said the prosecution’s case relied solely on the complainants’ accounts and questioned the reliability of memories after a long delay in reporting.

Mr Turkington said the most serious allegation, that Lady Donaldson facilitated a rape, was not mentioned in the complainant’s police interview. He argued it beggared belief that such a claim, if true, would have been omitted.

The judge, Paul Ramsey, is expected to summarise the evidence and give legal directions to the jury on Thursday before they retire to consider their verdicts.