The DUP faces legal action from an institutional abuse survivor after a meeting was arranged between the victim and Jeffrey Donaldson, the former party leader later convicted of rape and sexual assault.
Several survivor groups and individuals met with Donaldson in 2021 and early 2022 to enlist his help amid concern over the timing and substance of a planned apology from the Executive, The Irish News can reveal.
The apology for the actions of the state in relation to institutional abuse was delivered in March, 2022.
The DUP “have failed survivors of historical abuse by placing Jeffrey Donaldson front and centre of this process, and that’s a scary thought. Survivors were in the company of a sexual predator,” said the claimant taking the legal action. A formal notice of intent has been sent to the party.
A meeting at Stormont was organised between Donaldson and the claimant in early 2022. The man cancelled the meeting after hearing claims about Donaldson’s “risky” activities in London.
The letter of intent, sent by KRW Law, asks for “disclosure and clarification regarding the circumstances in which that meeting was arranged and the extent to which concerns, complaints, suspicions, intelligence or safeguarding issues relating to Jeffrey Donaldson were known, ought reasonably to have been known, or ought properly to have been investigated at the time”.
Donaldson’s conviction, and other allegations around his sexual behaviour, “resulted in significant psychological upset, re traumatisation and deterioration in his mental wellbeing”, the letter states.
“The proposed defendants owed our client a duty to exercise reasonable care in arranging, facilitating and supervising meetings involving vulnerable persons.
“Should disclosure demonstrate that persons exercising public functions knew, or were recklessly indifferent to, information creating safeguarding concerns, yet nevertheless permitted or facilitated the meeting to proceed, our client reserves the right to pursue a claim for misfeasance in public office.”
The DUP was contacted for comment.
“We are dealing with a sensitive matter here which transcends the circumstances of this individual case. It’s about accountability and requires some transparency,” said the claimant’s solicitor, Kevin Winters.
John Scappaticci, of the St Patrick’s Survivors Group, said the “the failure of political vetting had direct, damaging consequences for victims of historical abuse” who attended “formal meetings with Donaldson, exposing themselves to a compromised environment”.
Mr Scappaticci also backed out of a meeting after learning of Donaldson’s “London activities”, specifically claims of involvement with young female prostitutes.
“The DUP must answer for why a compromised individual was elevated to the highest level of public office,” he said.
“Survivors of historical abuse require absolute transparency, an immediate apology, and a full explanation of what the DUP knew, when they knew it, and why survivor safety was compromised for political expediency,” he said.
