Former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest party sentenced to 15 years for sexual offenses against children
Kyiv • UNN
Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty of 18 sexual offenses against two women committed between 1985 and 2008. He denies the charges and will appeal the verdict.
The former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, Jeffrey Donaldson, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison for historical sexual offences against children. The judge called the case “a catastrophic fall from grace.” Reuters reports, UNN writes.
Details
The 63-year-old Donaldson was found guilty in June of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault of a sexual nature and four counts of gross indecency involving two women. The crimes were committed between 1985 and 2008. It is one of the highest-profile court cases in the British-administered region in recent years.
Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland’s best-known politicians and served longer than any other representative from the region as a member of the British Parliament. He was arrested and charged in March 2024.
The judge called the case “disturbing and deeply unpleasant” and assessed Donaldson’s risk of reoffending as moderate.
Donaldson, who had been in prison awaiting sentencing since June, denied all the charges and intends to appeal his conviction.
Prosecutor Rosemary Walsh said during last month’s pre-sentencing hearing that one of the victims described the abuse as “the worst moment of her life” and said it had affected all her subsequent relationships.
The other victim felt that her childhood had been stolen and had felt “shame” ever since. Both victims, whose names cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, gave evidence during the trial.
The judge said he had no doubt about the indelible mark the crimes had left on the lives of both victims. He noted that the duration of the abuse and the victims’ ages were aggravating factors in determining the severity of the sentence.
Donaldson immediately resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), founded by Protestant clergyman Ian Paisley at the height of three decades of sectarian bloodshed that ended after the 1998 peace agreement was concluded.
In 2016, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for political service. Two months before his arrest, Donaldson played a key role in negotiations on a major post-Brexit trade deal.
Two days after being found guilty, Donaldson asked to be stripped of his knighthood.
The jury also found that Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, assisted her husband and facilitated the commission of the crimes. She also denied the charges.
Last month, the court found her unfit to stand trial because of mental health problems, and therefore she could not be criminally convicted.