Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson convicted of 18 child sex offences, party launches review after cover‑up claims
The ex‑head of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party was found guilty of rape and other offences against two women when they were children, prompting a party‑ordered independent review and fresh questions about police and political knowledge of his conduct.
Conviction at Newry Crown Court
Jeffrey Donaldson (63), the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, former MP and knight, was found guilty this week of 18 historical sexual offences, including one count of rape, committed against two women over a period of more than 20 years when they were children. He is now a convicted criminal and registered sex offender, awaiting sentencing later this year.
Faith as a shield
Throughout his trial Donaldson presented himself as a devout Christian, wearing a fish‑shaped lapel pin and taking the oath with both hands on the Bible. The court heard he wrote a letter of “apology” to one victim describing himself as a “sinner” in a “deep pit of sin.” Child safeguarding expert Ian Elliott said this fits a pattern he has “seen many times” across denominations.
Quite often people use the fact that the abuse has occurred within a religious setting, or that religion is involved, as a way of trying to put pressure on those who have been hurt to try and keep quiet and try and convince them that they will not be listened to, not be heard, if they speak out.
Police suspicions before the complaint
A BBC Spotlight investigation revealed that a detective chief inspector and the Presbyterian Church’s then head of safeguarding, Jacqui Montgomery‑Devlin, both suspected Donaldson a year before the victim named him to police. During a March 2023 meeting at the church’s Belfast headquarters, Complainant A did not identify her abuser, but Montgomery‑Devlin said she and the officer believed the woman was describing Donaldson. A former senior police officer told the BBC such suspicions should have been passed to the chief constable.
DUP orders independent review
The party said it acted swiftly when Donaldson was charged in March 2024 and that justice had been served with the guilty verdicts. However, its current leader Gavin Robinson, deputy leader Michelle McIlveen and party chairman are “deeply concerned” by allegations that some individuals may have had knowledge of inappropriate behaviour that was never reported to party officers. The DUP has begun commissioning a “specialised and detailed independent review” into issues arising from the conviction, with further details promised shortly.
Earlier warnings and surveillance
The same BBC investigation reported that two senior DUP members were made aware of different allegations against Donaldson five years ago, when a young woman said she had been “exploited” by him. It also disclosed that two senior PSNI officers observed Donaldson entering a London sauna that marketed itself as a meeting place for gay men in 2006, the same year he publicly referred to homosexuality as “sinful.”
