UK Ex-Party Leader Jailed 15 Years For Child Sex Crimes

Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) chief Jeffrey Donaldson has been sentenced to fifteen years in jail for rape and different sexual offences in opposition to two ladies after they had been youngsters.

Donaldson, 63, was sentenced on Thursday at Newry Crown Court in Northern Ireland, months after he was convicted of 18 offences dedicated between 1985 and 2008.

The offences included one depend of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and 4 counts of gross indecency. The victims had been each of main faculty age when among the abuse started.

Judge Paul Ramsey described Donaldson’s actions as a “catastrophic descent into disgrace” and stated the offences had left a long-lasting influence on the victims.

The courtroom sentenced him to 11 years for offences in opposition to one sufferer and 4 years for offences in opposition to the opposite, with the phrases to run consecutively.

Donaldson denied the fees throughout his trial and is looking for to attraction his convictions.

He resigned as DUP chief in 2024 following his arrest and in addition gave up his seat within the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, the place he had represented Lagan Valley since 1997.

He was stripped of his knighthood in July following his conviction. He had acquired the honour in 2016 for his political service.

His spouse, Eleanor Donaldson, was present in a separate fact-finding course of to have aided and abetted his offending.

However, she was deemed unfit to face trial on psychological well being grounds and was not criminally convicted. She has additionally indicated plans to attraction the discovering.

The case has drawn important consideration in Northern Ireland due to Donaldson’s lengthy political profession and former place as chief of the area’s largest unionist celebration.