Northern Ireland ex-DUP leader Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for child sex crimes

Judge says Jeffrey Donaldson never apologised to victims as politician seeks to appeal his convictions.The former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for child ⁠⁠sex offences.Jeffrey Donaldson, who led the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), stared straight ahead as Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the 63-year-old’s sentence on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UK, EU strike new Northern Ireland post-Brexit trade deallist 2 of 3Northern Ireland’s DUP to vote against new Brexit deal with EUlist 3 of 3What has Northern Ireland’s DUP agreed with the UK over EU trade?end of listRamsey described the case as “disturbing and disquieting”, ‌‌assessing Donaldson as having a medium chance of reoffending. He described the politician’s fall as “a catastrophic descent into disgrace”.Donaldson has been in prison awaiting sentence since June after he was 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 the charges and is seeking to appeal against his convictions.The case is one of the highest-profile cases in the British-run region in recent times.Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland’s best-known politicians and its longest-serving lawmaker in the British Parliament when he was arrested and charged in March 2024.He immediately resigned as the leader of the DUP after he was charged with what he called “allegations of an historic nature”.‘Worst moment’ of victim’s lifeProsecutor Rosemary Walsh told a pre-sentencing 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 around feelings of “shame” ever since. The victims, neither of whom can be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence during ⁠⁠the trial.