Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is now facing a total of 18 s**x offence charges after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) reviewed police evidence.
The Northern Ireland politician has been charged with seven additional offences on top of the 11 charges he faced when he appeared in court in April.
Donaldson’s wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, 58, initially faced four charges of aiding and abetting him, which has now increased to five.
The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1985 and 2006 and involve two alleged victims. The couple were released on bail following their appearance at Newry Magistrates Court in Co Down on April 24.
They are set to appear in court for a preliminary enquiry on Wednesday, where they are expected to plead not guilty.
Donaldson, Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP, resigned as DUP leader on March 28 after being charged following a day of questioning. His party suspended him, and he remained an independent MP until the election was called in May. He is not seeking re-election as the Lagan Valley MP, a position he held for 27 years.
In a letter to the party, the 61-year-old stated he would strenuously contest the charges. Donaldson was knighted for his services to politics in 2016.
He played a crucial role in brokering the DUP’s £1bn confidence and supply deal with Theresa May’s minority Tory government from 2017 to 2019. More recently, he led his party back into the power-sharing government at Stormont after a two-year boycott over post-Brexit trading arrangements.
