Donaldson told police sex abuse allegations were 'unbelievable'

Donaldson told police sex abuse allegations were 'unbelievable'3 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJulian O'Neill,Crime and justice correspondent,Lyndsey TelfordandLuke Sproule,BBC News NI PASir Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at court on MondayIn a police interview Sir Jeffrey Donaldson "absolutely categorically" denied the alleged circumstances around an incident in which he is accused of raping one of the two complainants in the trial against him.Sir Jeffrey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 18 sex abuse charges, including one count of rape, allegedly committed between 1985 and 2008.He told police after his arrest in March 2024 that the allegations were "unbelievable".A detective constable told Newry Crown Court that Sir Jeffrey was interviewed for a total of four-and-a-half hours. Three hours of the interview will be played in court.Warning: This story contains explicit details that some readers may find distressingThe former DUP leader was arrested at his County Down home and questioned for several hours at Antrim Police Station, before being charged.A prosecution barrister said that his interview had been edited to remove "repetition and irrelevant material", with the consent of all parties.She said what was being played was an accurate reflection of Sir Jeffrey's case.In the interview, a police officer put it to him that he was alleged to have begun to "rub [his] penis around the area of her clitoris" and "inserted [his] penis into the entrance of her vagina".The officer asked him: "Do you have any comment to make on that?"Sir Jeffrey replied: "That did not happen. The answer to that is absolutely no."He was asked if anything of that nature had ever happened, in any circumstances – to which he replied: "Never. Not ever."A separate alleged incident was put to Sir Jeffrey, in which he was said to have lifted up Complainant B's top and "started playing...