The BelTel

Eleanor Donaldson “met with a blank wall” when asking her husband Jeffrey about an incident with an alleged abuse – a jury has heard.  Eleanor Donaldson also accused her husband of infidelity during police interviews.      And Jeffrey Donaldson told police a letter sent to one of his alleged victims had nothing “to do with any allegation or any action involving sexual...

A man believed by police to be Sudanese has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a violent incident involving a knife in north Belfast.  The attack, which has been declared a ‘critical incident’, happened in Kinnaird Avenue shortly after 10.30 PM last night. The victim - a man in his 40s - is in hospital in a serious condition. A video of the attack has shocked and horrifi...

“I can’t get my head around” the abuse allegations made by Witness B, Jeffrey Donaldson told police.  The tape of the former MP’s interview with the PSNI was played at his trial in Newry Crown Count on Monday morning.    The jury also heard Donaldson deny that he apologised to Witness in the case because he thought it would “make this go away”.   “I wasn’t doing anyth...

Claire Sugden is the only independent MLA in Stormont. Co-opted into the assembly for east Londonderry in 2014, she served as justice minister from May 2016 to March 2017.   Widely considered a ‘liberal unionist’, in May 2021 she turned down an invitation from Doug Beattie to join the UUP but she says she’s no “soft unionist”.    But under John Burrow's leadership, could she co...

“Almost like a bomb went off”, that’s it was like, a witness told Newry Crown Court, when one of Jeffrey Donaldson’s alleged victims confided in her.     Claire Selfridge was giving evidence on the eighth day of the trial.    The jury also heard a claim that Jeffrey Donaldson asked one of the complainants to forgive him.    The former DUP leader is accused of rap...

Newry Crown Court has heard Jeffrey Donaldson sent a message to a minister supporting one of his alleged victims, saying he wanted to “repent before them as he had before God.”    The husband of an alleged victim in the abuse trial has broken down as he gave evidence on Thursday.     63-year-old former MP Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to all the 18 charges he is...

A woman who claims former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson raped her as a child has told a court in Newry she regrets not contacting police sooner. Witness B said she has “tried not to be a victim” in the years since the alleged abuse. During cross-examination on Wednesday afternoon, she said she wished she had “screamed out”.  Jeffrey Donaldson is accused of rape and several counts of...

Stephen McCullagh will do at least 31 years of jail time before he is even considered for release.    32-year-old Natalie McNally had been 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to a violent attack and murdered at her home in Lurgan in December 2022.    The judge, Mr Justice Kinney, told McCullagh that he committed a “brutal senseless murder and planned it in remorseless deta...

The UUP’s fortunes, or at least its leader’s, had been rising in the polls – but now the party is sinking into civil war.  Its former leader Doug Beattie has quit the party and has launched a blistering assault on current leader Jon Burrows – even saying he “regretted” ever persuading Burrows to join the party.  Mr Beattie resigned from the UUP at the weekend, accusing former PSNI man Bu...

A jury has heard a police interview recording of a woman who claims she was raped as a child by Jeffrey Donaldson. Jurors at Newry Crown Court heard allegations against the former DUP leader by a woman who claims it happened when she was at primary school.  She also alleged that Donaldson arranged for her to be sent to a Christian Rehabilitation Centre and apologised to her there.  ...

Eleanor Donaldson “did nothing” when told of an allegation of abuse by her husband, Jeffrey Donaldson, a court has heard.  The claim from one of the alleged victims came during week two of the former DUP leader’s trial.  63-year-old Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.    The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault a...

Sixty years after being jailed with Ian Paisley, a veteran Free Presbyterian minister is daring his clerical colleagues to expel him. Now, the Rev Ivan Foster – himself a former DUP Assemblyman – is facing discipline for criticising Free Presbyterian ministers. A second cleric, the Rev David Linden, is also facing disciplinary measures. 83-year-old Rev Foster has publicly accused the church o...

Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife planted a listening device in his car after becoming suspicious he was having affair with a constituent, a court in Newry has been told.  The 63-year-old former MP in on trial in relation to 18 alleged historical sex offence charges, dating from 1985 to 2008 – including a charge of rape. He denies all of the charges against him.   His wife Eleanor Donal...

The inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe has been hearing its 17th week of evidence. This week the inquest heard a police constable say investigating the culvert in which the teenager's body was found was “not a priority” during the first few days of the search. The jury also heard an engineer say it was ‘Extremely unlikely’ Noah entered the watercourse from anywhere but culvert entrance at...

Tommy Fleming has for decades been a star of international acclaim. The Sligo singer has played to sold out crowds, toured with Phil Coulter, and enjoyed much of his success with his wife Tina by his side.  Tommy called Tina the “most decent and loving” person he knew, while Tina said her relationship with him was “special and fulfilling”. But last year, the cracks in their life together star...

The trial of Jeffrey Donaldson for alleged sex crimes has heard he wrote a letter to an alleged victim asking for forgiveness. The court was read the letter from June 2020 to a woman he is accused of abusing. In it he asked for her forgiveness for “hurt and pain I have caused”. In the letter to Witness A, he referred to “sinful and selfish actions” and wrote he wanted to “take full respo...

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson apologised to one of his alleged victims at a church retreat in the mid-1990s, a court heard today. Jurors were also told second complainant wrote letter to two defendants about the secret ‘she had to keep’    The prosecution delivered its opening address in the Donaldson trial on Wednesday. The former DUP leader is on trial at Newry Crown Court for al...

A search has begun near the shores of Lough Neagh for one of the Disappeared. 29-year-old Seamus Maguire is thought to have been killed and secretly buried by republicans 50 years ago. The search operation is on land near to his homeplace of Aghagallon, near Lurgan.  It is the first search for one of the Disappeared to take place in Northern Ireland for 16 years.    Ciarán Dunb...

The murder of Pat Finucane is one of the most notorious of the troubles. The 39-year-old Belfast solicitor was shot dead at his family home in north Belfast in 1989 by UDA gunmen. A series of investigations revealed collusion with the state. The first hearing of a public inquiry into the killing is set to take place next month – with Sir Gary Hickinbottom as chairman of the inquiry. Pat Finucane’s...

The trial of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson and the trial of the facts of his wife, Eleanor Donaldson, will be heard together.   Eleanor Donaldson, who had faced charges of aiding and abetting which she strenously denies, has been declared unfit to stand trial. Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences, including one count of rape, as well as allegati...

The jury in Noah Donohoe inquest have heard a sixteenth week of evidence. The schoolboy was just 14 when his naked body was found in the storm drain tunnel on June 27, 2020. He had been missing for six days.    On Thursday, an expert witness gave testimony on the CCTV footage of Noah leaving his flat during the night before he went missing.     Earlier in the week the...

In 1920 a momentous decision was finalised - three Ulster counties, Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan would not be included in the new Northern Ireland. It was felt that the new entity would be more secure without those counties which had nationalist majorities. But they also had large, Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist minorities - then abandoned in the new Irish Free State.   Ed Burke has writt...

Tattle Life is a self-described “commentary website”.  Supporters of the site say it’s free speech, protects consumers, and that influencers are fair game, with the website saying it has a zero-tolerance policy to any abusive, hateful or harmful content. But critics claim users have published private documents, that the site facilitates vile and cruel trolling – even stalking. &nbsp...

Fianna Fáil has turned the ripe old age of 100. But is the house that Éamon de Valera built in disarray? Irish Independent political correspondent John Downing reckons “they’re a very pale, poor shadow of what they were”. So, how did Dev shape the party in the first place? How did Seán Lemass modernise Ireland? Why did Charles Haughey command such loyalty? What made Bertie Ahern the “ultimate...

The inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe is now in its 15th week. This week the jury has heard evidence from the PSNI officers who found Noah’s remains. It also heard how a senior official went down into the culvert himself to help him understand what happened. 14-year-old Noah’s remains were found in north Belfast in June 2020&nbs...