BBC reports Jeffrey Donaldson to be interviewed over 2016 rape allegation

Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson is to be interviewed by London police over an allegation that he raped a woman inside the Houses of Parliament in 2016, the BBC reports. The allegation is separate from the child sexual abuse offences for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison last week. [1] [2]

In a statement quoted by the BBC, the Metropolitan Police said it received a referral from the Police Service of Northern Ireland on 13 October concerning a 2016 rape allegation involving a man now aged 63. The force did not name Donaldson. It said the investigation was in its early stages, one complainant was being supported by specialist officers and no arrests had been made. [1]

Donaldson was found guilty by a jury in June of 18 sexual offences against two people who were children at the time, including one count of rape. Those offences took place between 1985 and 1991 and between 1999 and 2008. He was sentenced on 15 October and has lodged an appeal, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service says. The 2016 allegation was not part of that case. [2]

In July, the Press Association reported, citing the Belfast Telegraph, that a woman had complained of sexual assault by Donaldson in Westminster in 2016. Northern Ireland police said at the time that they were assessing a report of an alleged non-recent offence. It is unclear whether that report and the rape allegation described by the BBC concern the same incident. [3]