Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson convicted of 18 historical child sex abuses including rape

The former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, was found guilty on Monday of 18 historical child sex abuse charges against two girls that spanned 23 years (1985–2008). A jury of seven men and five women at Newry Crown Court convicted him of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault, and four counts of gross indecency. Donaldson, 63, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out, sitting in the dock with his hands clasped.

A career at Westminster's centre

Donaldson was Northern Ireland's longest-serving MP, first elected in 1997, and was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2016 for his political services. He rose to become the DUP's chief whip in Westminster, central to the 2017 confidence-and-supply deal that propped up Theresa May's minority Conservative government in exchange for £1 billion for Northern Ireland. In 2024, just two months before his arrest, he brokered a deal with the British government over post-Brexit trade that ended the DUP's boycott of Stormont's power-sharing institutions. He was suspended from the party and stepped down as leader following the charges in March 2024.

The case against him

The complainants, identified as A and B to protect their identities, testified that Donaldson groped them when they were of primary-school age. The older complainant, B, said he raped her. Donaldson took the stand, denying the allegations and asserting he was "crystal clear" he had not raped the girl. The prosecution relied on a 1997 apology meeting at a Christian community in Armoy, Co Antrim, where Donaldson told the victim, "I know what this is about. I'm sorry. Will you please forgive me?" He later claimed he was apologising for making her uncomfortable. A letter he wrote to Complainant A in 2020, expressing regret for "hurt, pain and distress", was also presented, though he insisted it did not refer to sexual abuse.

It just didn't happen, I am absolutely crystal clear about that. It is not something I would ever have done, it is just simply not true.

Eleanor Donaldson's trial

Donaldson's wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, faced five charges of aiding and abetting. Because a court found her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds, she was not present during the four-week proceedings and could not be convicted. Instead, she faced a trial of the facts under Northern Ireland's Mental Health Order 1986, in which the jury was asked only to determine whether she committed the acts. The jury found that she had done the acts alleged in all five charges. She faces no prison sentence but may receive a non-custodial order.

Sentencing in September

The judge ordered Donaldson to be held in custody, stating that a "long prison sentence" is inevitable. Sentencing is scheduled for 25 September 2026. He will also be placed on the sex offenders register.

Key dates in the case