Northern Ireland ex-DUP leader Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for child sex crimes

The former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for child ⁠⁠sex offences.

Jeffrey Donaldson, who led the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), stared straight ahead as Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the 63-year-old’s sentence on Thursday.

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Ramsey described the case as “disturbing and disquieting”, ‌‌assessing Donaldson as having a medium chance of reoffending. He described the politician’s fall as “a catastrophic descent into disgrace”.

Donaldson has been in prison awaiting sentence since June after he was convicted of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency against two girls between ⁠⁠1985 and 2008.

He denied all the charges and is seeking to appeal against his convictions.

The case is one of the highest-profile cases in the British-run region in recent times.

Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland’s best-known politicians and its longest-serving lawmaker in the British Parliament when he was arrested and charged in March 2024.

He immediately resigned as the leader of the DUP after he was charged with what he called “allegations of an historic nature”.

Prosecutor Rosemary Walsh told a pre-sentencing hearing last month that one of the victims described the abuse as “the worst moment of her life”.

The other victim said her childhood had been stolen and that she had carried around feelings of “shame” ever since. The victims, neither of whom can be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence during ⁠⁠the trial.

Judge Ramsey said Donaldson had doubled down on his denials and not offered one word of an apology or expressed shame.

Donaldson will likely spend seven-and-a-half years in prison as he qualifies for an automatic remission of his sentence, the Lady Chief Justice’s Office of ⁠⁠Northern Ireland said. This is because the offences were committed before a change in the law allowing a judge to choose what portion of a sentence is spent in custody.

Former DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson signed paperwork with Britain’s then Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, and Chief Whip, Gavin Williamson at 10 Downing Street on June 26, 2017. Donaldson rose through ranks to become DUP leader [File: Daniel Leal-Olivas/Reuters]

In 2021, Donaldson became leader of the DUP, the party founded by Protestant cleric Ian Paisley at the height of three decades of sectarian bloodshed, which ended after a 1998 peace deal.

Donaldson was central to the negotiation of a crucial post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom government two months before his arrest.

It enabled the end of the DUP’s two-year boycott of the devolved power-sharing assembly at Stormont and had also been expected to lead his party into the next UK general election.

Donaldson was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth for his political services in 2016.

He asked for his knighthood to be renounced two days after his conviction.

The jury also found that Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, ‌‌aided and ‌‌abetted her husband. She has also denied the charges.

The court ruled her unfit to stand trial last month due to mental health issues, meaning she could not face criminal conviction.

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