By Amanda Ferguson
NEWRY, Northern Ireland, Oct 15 (Reuters) – The former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, Jeffrey Donaldson, was jailed for 15 years on Thursday for historic child sex offences that were described by the judge as representing “a catastrophic descent into disgrace”.
Donaldson, 63, was convicted in June of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency against two women at dates between 1985 and 2008 in one of the highest-profile cases in the British-run region in recent times.
He 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.
Donaldson, dressed in a blue suit, was motionless and stared straight ahead as Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the sentence. Ramsey described the case as “disturbing and disquieting” and assessed Donaldson as having a medium chance of reoffending.
Donaldson, who has been in prison awaiting sentence since June, denied all charges and is seeking to appeal against his convictions.
Prosecution lawyer Rosemary Walsh told a pre-sentencing hearing last month that one of the victims described the abuse as “the worst moment of her life” and that it has affected all her relationships since.
The other victim believed 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.
Ramsey said he was in no doubt whatsoever of the permanent mark left on both victims and that this, the length of abuse, and age of the victims were aggravating factors in the severity of the sentence. He said Donaldson had doubled down on his denials and not offered one word of apology or shame.
Donaldson immediately stepped down as head of the Democratic Unionist Party, founded by Protestant cleric Ian Paisley at the height of three decades of sectarian bloodshed, which ended after a 1998 peace deal.
He was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth for his political services in 2016 and was central to the negotiation of a key post-Brexit trade deal just two months prior to his arrest.
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.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, writing by Padraic Halpin; editing by William James)
