The husband of a woman who claims Jeffrey Donaldson abused her as a child broke down in tears at the former DUP leader’s sex offences trial as he described the moment she confided in him about the alleged abuse.During the second week of evidence at Newry Crown Court, the man sobbed in the witness boss recalling his wife’s fear about making the disclosure to him.“She was worried if she told me it would change my perspective on her,” he told the jury.“ ... She was scared. She told me she had never told anyone this. I recognised this was massive for her.”The man is married to Complainant A, one of two alleged victims who have accused Jeffrey Donaldson of abusing them as children.He cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife.Jeffrey Donaldson (63) with an address in Dromore, Co Down, is accused of 18 offences – one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency with or towards a child and 13 counts of indecent assault on a female, on dates between 1985 and 2008. He denies the charges.His wife, Eleanor Donaldson (60) of the same address, is charged with five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with the charges faced by her husband. She denies the charges. Eleanor Donaldson is not present in court as she has been ruled unfit to stand trial on the basis of medical evidence and is instead facing a trial of the facts. This is running concurrently with her husband’s trial.The former Lagan Valley MP sat in the dock with his arms folded as prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh asked the husband of Complainant A when he first became aware of the allegations.Giving evidence for almost two hours, the prosecution witness said he and his wife were driving on December 27th, 2019, when she said she “needed to tell me something about Jeffrey Donaldson”. “We found a car park. I stopped the car,” he said.With his head bowed, the man said she told him that Jeffrey Donaldson had abused her when she was younger “on a number of occasions”.“She said he inappropriately touched her on a number of occasions and that he kissed her. His pushed his tongue around her mouth,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes.She also confided in him about a separate alleged allegation of childhood abuse by Jeffrey Donaldson.“She said she was woken by a light and he was looking at her private parts when she was asleep,” he told the court.Asked by Walsh about her demeanour after she disclosed the abuse, he said the incident was “quite surreal”.“I was very upset. She was slightly surprised at how upset I was.“She was scared.”Approaches were made by the man to a Presbyterian Church minister in late 2022.“I was out of my depth in terms of trying to help her ... I sought out [our] minister,” he said.Asked by the prosecution barrister why he did this on his own initiative, he replied: “She needed help and support and I couldn’t do it for her.”A meeting took place in the couple’s home with the minister and his wife, in which they discussed the alleged abuse.Under cross-examination by Jeffrey Donaldson’s barrister, Kieran Vaughan, the witness was asked why his wife didn’t report the abuse earlier.Vaughan made reference to a meeting at the Presbyterian Church Ireland assembly buildings headquarters in Belfast in March 2023, which Complainant A attended along with her husband, a church safeguarding officer and a police officer.Complainant A did not report the alleged abuse to police until the following year.The man said his wife was so traumatised that “even up until the day before” she went to police in March 2024, she was “unsure” if she could go “through with it”.“This was trauma that she had for so many years that she had boxed off,” the witness told Vaughan.His wife had “tried to put on a smile and pretend everything was okay,” he said.“She was genuinely terrified. We both were.”Later on Thursday, the couple’s minister gave evidence about their disclosure.The minister, who cannot be named, said that during their first meeting in December 2022, they only spoke about a “perpetrator” and “no names were given”.“We contacted our head of safeguarding at that church ... we wanted to know where boundaries were as far as [our] responsibilities were,” the minister told the prosecution barrister.Jurors heard that the minister received a WhatsApp message while on holiday in July 2023 from an unknown number, in which Jeffrey Donaldson identified himself as the sender.The minister said he realised it was a “hugely important message”.He “slept on it” before replying the following day.In the message, the former DUP leader asks: “For reasons you understand I would appeal you please keep this approach in confidence. I don’t know where else to turn to ...”In the minister’s response, he wrote that he realised “things are difficult”, adding “it would be inappropriate for me to discuss this as I am their minister”.Jeffrey Donaldson replied 18 minutes later thanking him and said, “I do understand entirely.”The message was read to the court.Donaldson wrote: “I don’t want to cause them further upset.“I just want to find a way to let them know how sorry I am and to repent before them as I have before the Lord.“I will leave it to the Lord ... as his will.”The trial continues.