Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to appeal child sex abuse convictions, says lawyer

Published: 20:10, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 20:11, 17 July 2026 The former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is to launch an appeal after being convicted of a string of child sex offences.  The 63-year-old was found guilty of raping a woman when she was a minor during a 23-year campaign of child sexual abuse covered up by his wife.  He was convicted of all 18 charges by a jury at Newry Crown Court last month.  The offences related to two women when they were children and included one count of rape, 13 of indecent assault and four of gross indecency.  Donaldson was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and was the longest-serving Northern Ireland MP, representing Lagan Valley in County Down. He was arrested in 2024 and told police and the jury that the allegations made by the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were ‘unbelievable’ and ‘simply not true.'  His wife Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted him by turning a blind eye, despite witnessing some of the abuse. She was too ill to stand trial. Donaldson is currently being held at Maghaberry Prison in Lagan Valley awaiting sentencing.  The former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is to launch an appeal after being convicted of a string of child sex offences  The politician's wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson also faced several counts of aiding and abetting her husband's alleged offences. She was found to have committed those acts But on Friday, his solicitor John McBurney said Donaldson had lodged an appeal.  He said: 'I can confirm, having lodged this afternoon on behalf of Jeffrey Donaldson appeal papers with the relevant office for the court of appeal.'  If granted, the appeal is expected to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast in the autumn and is understood to be aimed at having the convictions set aside.   Sir Jeffrey's crimes included kissing one victim, Complainant A, and putting his tongue in her mouth when she was of primary school age. He also put his hands up her top to grope her.  The second victim, Complainant B, was also in primary school when he raped her. He indecently assaulted her on nine occasions, including once in front of his own wife. Jeffrey Donaldson, a heavyweight in Northern Irish unionist politics for decades, was suspended from the DUP after the allegations emerged Instead of intervening, Lady Eleanor Donaldson turned, walked away and pulled the door behind her.  Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland's best-known politicians when he was arrested and charged in March 2024.  He immediately stepped down as head of the Democratic Unionist Party, the region's largest pro-British unionist party.  The DUP said it was undertaking a 'focused, independent review' to establish what was known within the party about Donaldson's conduct.  The review will be led by Jim Gamble, a former senior police officer and current head of the INEQE Safeguarding Group.  The Northern Ireland Assembly has also begun a review into alleged abuse or inappropriate behaviour associated with Donaldson in Stormont during his time as an MLA from 2003 to 2010. Earlier this month Donaldson was removed from the Privy Council. It came after he asked for his name to be removed from the list of members of the body of senior advisers to the King.