Judge Paul Ramsey sentenced Jeffrey Donaldson, who led the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2021 to 2024, to 15 years in prison at Newry Crown Court on 15 October 2026 for raping one girl and sexually abusing another between 1985 and 2008. Ramsey imposed 11 years for the rape of Complainant B and four years for the offences against Complainant A, to run consecutively. Donaldson's offending ended in 2008, the year Northern Ireland abolished automatic remission for new offences, and because it predates the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 he will spend seven and a half years in custody, the Lady Chief Justice's Office said. A jury of seven men and five women convicted him on 22 June of all 18 counts, including the rape of a child under the age of 13.
The sentence
Ramsey imposed 11 years for the rape of Complainant B and between 18 months and four years for each indecent assault, served concurrently with the rape term. For Complainant A he imposed four years for the indecent assaults and two years for each count of gross indecency, and the four years run after the 11.
Donaldson pleaded not guilty to every charge and received none of the reduction a guilty plea earns. A pre-sentence report assessed him at medium risk of reoffending. He is on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years after his release.
Both women sat in court for the 30-minute hearing. The woman he raped kept her head bowed throughout and broke down after he was led away.
Aggravating factors and mitigation
Ramsey listed the aggravating factors as the most grievous breach of trust, the span of the offending, the victims' young age, the age gap between them and Donaldson and the harm done to both women. He called the case "disturbing and disquieting" and said watching the women give evidence had left him certain the abuse marked them permanently.
Ramsey told Donaldson, 63, that his fall from high public office was "a catastrophic descent into disgrace". He said Donaldson had hardened his denials since the verdict and had offered the women not one word of regret, apology or shame.
Rosemary Walsh KC, for the prosecution, set out starting points for each of the 18 offences at a pre-sentence hearing on 25 September and argued that the youth of both victims and the length of the abuse aggravated the offending. Kieran Vaughan KC, for Donaldson, told the court his client was a man of previous good character who "did achieve significant things in his life". Vaughan said the conviction obliterated those achievements and that Donaldson would have to live with it.
Ramsey read from the victim impact statements of both women. Complainant B said the abuse had affected every day of her life and every relationship she had. Complainant A said in a statement issued after the hearing: "My childhood was stolen from me and I will never get it back." Both women are entitled to lifelong anonymity.
Catherine Kierans, head of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) Serious Crime Unit, said outside court that Donaldson had never accepted responsibility for his offending or shown remorse.
Half in custody
The Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 ended automatic remission and gave judges discretion over how much of a sentence is served in custody. For offences committed before the order, the court sentences under the older law, which gave every prisoner 50 per cent remission, Allison Morris of the Belfast Telegraph told Newstalk.
The Press Association reported on 15 October that Donaldson will spend the second seven and a half years on licence. The Irish News reported the same day that he will be released with no licence conditions and none of the supervision a licence requires.
Donaldson has been held at Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, in his former Lagan Valley constituency since the verdict, and the four months he spent on remand count against his time in custody. On that arithmetic he would leave prison in late 2033, when he will be 71.
What the jury heard
Complainant B told the jury Donaldson raped her when she was of primary school age and later sexually assaulted her. Complainant A described touching and kissing and an incident in which he used a light to examine her genitals. Both women gave evidence by video link from a separate room in the courthouse and were cross-examined for days by Donaldson's barrister and by his wife's.
Donaldson spent two days in the witness box denying every allegation and told the jury the rape "just didn't happen". He had apologised to each woman, once in person and once in a handwritten letter. Complainant B said that in the 1990s he apologised to her for what had happened in the past; Donaldson testified that he was apologising for making her feel uncomfortable. In 2020 he wrote to Complainant A that he regretted the hurt, pain and distress he had caused.
The jury deliberated for 10 hours over three days and returned unanimous verdicts on one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency.
Eleanor Donaldson
Eleanor Donaldson, 60, faced five charges: four of aiding and abetting her husband's offending and one of child cruelty. A court ruled her unfit to take part in a conventional trial on mental health grounds, and she faced a trial of the facts alongside her husband. She did not attend; her barrister, Ian Turkington KC, cross-examined both women.
Prosecutors told the jury that Eleanor Donaldson saw the rape and "just looked and turned away and pulled the door behind her". The jury found she had done the acts on all five charges.
Eleanor Donaldson cannot be convicted, jailed or placed on the Sex Offenders Register under the procedure. Ramsey will deal with her at a separate disposal hearing in November. His options include committal to a secure hospital unit, a guardianship order, a supervision and treatment order or an absolute discharge.
Career and arrest
Donaldson joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1982 and left in 2003 after falling out with its then leader, David Trimble, over parts of the Good Friday Agreement, moving to the DUP. He was Northern Ireland's longest-serving MP at Westminster when he was charged and was knighted in 2016. The abuse continued until 2008, as he rose toward the top of Northern Ireland politics.
In February 2024 Donaldson agreed the deal with the UK government that restored the Northern Ireland Executive. Police arrested him and Eleanor Donaldson at their home on 28 March 2024, two months after he negotiated the deal.
Donaldson resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party. His bail barred unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, and the couple were bailed to separate addresses, she to the family home in Dromore and he to his flat in London and ordered to have no contact with each other. He stayed on as MP for Lagan Valley but did not stand at the 2024 general election. After the verdict he renounced his knighthood and was removed from the Privy Council.
Party reviews
The DUP, led by Gavin Robinson, said Donaldson "deserves every day of the lengthy prison sentence" and has commissioned its own independent examination of his time in the party. The Northern Ireland Assembly opened a review of allegations of abuse or inappropriate behaviour linked to his years as a member.
Jon Burrows, the UUP leader and a former senior police officer, appointed an independent expert to review Donaldson's 21 years in the UUP, after a rapid internal check turned up neither formal nor informal complaints. Burrows called the conviction "one of the most serious breaches of trust in public life in Northern Ireland" and wrote to the UK government asking for an independent public inquiry into what was known about Donaldson during his career.
Justice Minister Naomi Long and Health Minister Robbie Butler agreed to appoint an external reviewer of trials of the facts after Burrows wrote to them in July. Burrows said 60 trials of the facts were held in Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2025.
Pending decisions
Solicitor John McBurney lodged papers at the Court of Appeal in Belfast on 17 July challenging all 18 convictions. The Court of Appeal must first decide whether Donaldson has an arguable case before granting leave, and a successful appeal would send the case to a retrial.
Eleanor Donaldson's lawyers applied for leave to appeal the jury's finding, and the Northern Ireland Courts Service had listed no hearing date when it confirmed the application on 17 September. Her disposal hearing is due in November. The external review of trials of the facts is due to report before the Assembly term ends in May 2027.
