RTE News: Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty on Monday at Newry crown court of 18 sexual offences, including rape, after a four-week trial. The jury said the offences were against two victims who were children at the time. He now faces a potential jail sentence, while the court has not set out the exact sentencing date.
Newry crown court
The convictions covered conduct said to run from 1985 to 2008. The offences included rape, indecent assault and gross indecency. Donaldson, who was 63 years old, had pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and other counts of gross indecency and indecent assault.
Rosemary Walsh KC told the court: "The sexual abuse they suffered has consequences – consequences that cannot be ignored and brushed under the carpet any longer". That line followed evidence from Complainant B, who said: "What happened that night will live with me for ever."
Complainant B
Complainant B said she was raped when she was of primary school age. She also said she was of secondary school age when Donaldson lifted up her top and fondled her breasts. Complainant A told the trial that Donaldson began to be physical with her when she was of primary school age, put his hands up her top, kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth, and used a light to look at her genitals.
Judge Paul Ramsey deemed Eleanor unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds. The jury found that Eleanor had aided and abetted her husband’s offending. That left Donaldson as the only defendant before the jury, and the verdict resolved the main criminal case against him.
March 2024
Donaldson’s arrest in March 2024 led him to stand down as an MP and resign from the DUP. The arrest shocked Westminster and Stormont. Gavin Robinson later became the party’s new leader.
Before that collapse, Donaldson had helped to broker the Windsor framework and played a key role at Westminster during post-Brexit negotiations over Northern Ireland’s position in the UK. The guilty verdict closes that public career and moves the case to sentencing, where the court will decide the punishment that follows the conviction.
