On Wednesday Scotland Yard confirmed that on 13 October it received, from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, a report of an alleged rape in 2016 in the Palace of Westminster. The man is now 63. One victim. The inquiry is at an early stage. Nobody has been arrested. An allegation, not a conviction. Dump Guardian.

The Met did not name him. The Belfast Telegraph and BBC Spotlight wrote that the referral concerns Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP leader from 2021 to 2024. That is press identification. It is not an indictment. The presumption of innocence holds on this allegation.

A Met spokesperson: one victim, supported by specialist officers; the investigation is in its early stages; no arrests have been made; inquiries remain ongoing. The BBC wrote that Donaldson is to be interviewed. An intended interview, not a charge filed, not a conviction on this fact.

The Belfast Telegraph has, since July, reported the Northern Ireland woman’s account: a Commons tour, dinner, then the DUP offices. The Met stated only the place: parliament, 2016, London. That is why the PSNI sent the file. A newspaper account is not a court finding.

Last week Donaldson was sentenced to 15 years for sexual offences against two victims between 1985 and 2008, including one count of rape. Those facts are another case, with a sentence. He is seeking to appeal those convictions. Wednesday’s London inquiry is a 2016 allegation, unproven in court. Do not mix them.

Dump Guardian. The rewrite rests on the Guardian and BBC Spotlight.

Image: the Palace of Westminster from Victoria Tower Gardens, 23 September 2017, Robert Lamb, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The exterior, not an interior room.

Sources consulted: Jeffrey Donaldson to be interviewed over alleged rape inside Houses of Parliament — BBC News.