Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sex offences. Donaldson, 63, who once led Northern Ireland's largest unionist party, stared straight ahead as Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the sentence on Thursday.
Judge Ramsey described the case as "disturbing and unsettling" and assessed Donaldson as posing a medium risk of reoffending. He called the former politician's downfall "a catastrophic descent into disgrace".
Donaldson had been held in custody 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 the convictions.
It is one of the most closely watched cases in the UK-governed region in recent times. Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland's best-known politicians and the longest-serving MP at Westminster when he was arrested and charged in March 2024.
He resigned immediately as DUP leader after being charged with what he called "historic allegations".
Worst moment of the victims' lives
Prosecutor Rosemary Walsh said at a pre-sentence hearing last month that one of the victims described the abuse as "the worst moment of her life". The other victim said her childhood had been stolen and that she had carried a sense of "shame" ever since. Both victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence at the trial.
Judge Ramsey said Donaldson had continued to deny the allegations and had offered no apology or expression of shame.
According to the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, Donaldson is likely to serve only seven and a half years in prison because of automatic remission. That is because the offences were committed before a change in the law that allows a judge to determine the portion of a sentence served in custody.
In 2021, Donaldson became leader of the DUP, the party founded by Protestant cleric Ian Paisley at the height of three decades of sectarian bloodshed that ended with the 1998 peace agreement.
Donaldson was a central figure in negotiating a key post-Brexit trade deal with the UK government two months before his arrest. The deal allowed the DUP to end its two-year boycott of the power-sharing assembly at Stormont and was also expected to lead his party into the next UK general election.
Donaldson was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth for his political contributions in 2016. He asked to give up the title two days after being convicted.
The jury also found that Donaldson's wife, Eleanor, aided and abetted her husband. She too denied the charges. The court ruled last month that she was unfit to stand trial because of a mental health issue, meaning she cannot face a criminal conviction.
