Northern Ireland ex-DUP leader Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for child sex crimes
Judge says Jeffrey Donaldson never apologised to victims as politician seeks to appeal his convictions.
Key points
- Jeffrey Donaldson, ex-DUP leader, sentenced to 15 years for child sex offences.
- He was convicted of rape, indecent assault and gross indecency against two girls.
- He will likely serve seven-and-a-half years due to automatic remission.
Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for child sex offences. Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the sentence on Thursday, describing the case as 'disturbing and disquieting' and Donaldson's fall as 'a catastrophic descent into disgrace'.
Donaldson, 63, had been in prison awaiting sentence since June after being 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 charges and is seeking to appeal.
Victims and sentencing remarks
Prosecutor Rosemary Walsh told a pre-sentencing hearing last month that one victim described the abuse as 'the worst moment of her life', while the other said her childhood had been stolen and she had carried feelings of 'shame' ever since. Neither victim can be identified for legal reasons.
Judge Ramsey said Donaldson had doubled down on his denials and offered no apology or expression of shame. He assessed Donaldson as having a medium chance of reoffending.
disturbing and disquieting
— Judge Paul Ramsey
Time to serve and background
Donaldson will likely spend seven-and-a-half years in prison as he qualifies for automatic remission, 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.
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 DUP leader after being charged with what he called 'allegations of an historic nature'.
In 2021, he became leader of the DUP, the party founded by Protestant cleric Ian Paisley. He was central to negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal two months before his arrest. He was knighted in 2016 and asked to renounce his knighthood two days after his conviction.
The jury also found that Donaldson's wife, Eleanor, aided and abetted her husband. She 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.
