Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson due for sentencing on child sex abuse convictions

The convictions

Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, is due to be sentenced on Thursday, 15 October 2026, for sex offences against two women who were children when the abuse happened. A jury convicted him in June on 18 counts: one of rape, 13 of indecent assault and four of gross indecency. The offences were committed between 1985 and 2008, and Donaldson had denied them. He has been held in Maghaberry Prison while awaiting sentence, and he is seeking to appeal his convictions. Judge Paul Ramsey had earlier told him the sentence would be a lengthy one.

Evidence heard at trial

The two complainants gave evidence during the trial in 2026. The first described inappropriate touching and kissing by Donaldson, along with an incident in which he used a light to examine her genitals. The second told the trial she had been raped by him as a child of primary school age, and that he later sexually assaulted her. Donaldson denied the offences, but the jury returned guilty verdicts on the 18 counts it convicted him of.

His wife's case

Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was tried on the facts on mental health grounds, which meant the jury had to decide whether she had carried out the acts she was accused of. She did not take part in those proceedings. The jury found that she had done the acts in all five charges, four of which were counts of aiding and abetting her husband's offending. Her verdict was reached separately from his conviction and sentencing.

Sentencing hearing

At a pre-sentence hearing in September, Donaldson's barrister Kieran Vaughan KC acknowledged that the court would impose a lengthy custodial sentence given the nature of the offences. Vaughan said he had complete confidence the court would treat his client like any other defendant. He described Donaldson, now 63, as a man of "previous good character" with no offending in the past 18 years. Vaughan also said Donaldson had achieved significant things in his life.

These convictions obliterate all those achievements he has made in his life.

Vaughan added that Donaldson would have to live with that outcome.

Responses and reviews

In July, the King stripped Donaldson of his knighthood. The DUP launched an independent review into a number of issues arising from the conviction. The Ulster Unionist Party launched its own independent safeguarding review into his conduct during his 21-year membership, which ran from 1982 to 2003, before he joined the DUP. A Northern Ireland Assembly review in September into his conduct at Stormont found no relevant information requiring further investigation. Civil servants were asked to come forward with any experiences of abuse or inappropriate behaviour during Donaldson's time as a junior minister.