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LONDON: Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland\u2019s largest unionist party, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison for the rape and sex abuse of two girls decades ago.<\/p>\n
The judge said that Donaldson, 63, had expressed no \u201cregret, apology or shame\u201d for crimes that had blighted the victims\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland\u2019s best-known politicians until his arrest stunned his political colleagues and wider society two years ago.<\/p>\n
He was convicted in June of one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two girls between 1985 and 2008. He had denied the charges.<\/p>\n
Donaldson led the Democratic Unionist Party, the biggest party in favor of keeping Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, from 2021 until 2024. He resigned as leader of the conservative DUP after his arrest and gave up the seat in the UK House of Commons that he had held since 1997.<\/p>\n
The DUP said in a statement that Donaldson \u201cdeserves every day of the lengthy prison sentence he has to serve\u201d for his \u201cvile and disgusting crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Paul Ramsey said that the ex-politician had undergone a \u201ccatastrophic descent into disgrace.\u201d He sentenced him at Newry Crown Court, south of Belfast, to 11 years for offenses against one victim and four years for the other, to run consecutively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has not been, and doubtless will not be, one word of regret, apology or shame from this man to at least provide his victims with some crumb of comfort,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
Donaldson\u2019s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted her husband\u2019s offenses for witnessing the abuse and doing nothing to intervene. Because of mental health issues, she faced only a fact-finding hearing that couldn\u2019t result in a conviction.<\/p>\n
The two victims testified that Donaldson groped them when they were around primary school age. The older of the two, referred to in court as Complainant B, said that he raped her.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press doesn\u2019t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and UK law protects their identities from the media for life.<\/p>\n
During his trial, Donaldson denied all the allegations against him. He testified that the rape \u201cjust didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catherine Kierans, the head of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland\u2019s Serious Crime Unit, said that Donaldson \u201chas never accepted responsibility for his offending, nor shown any remorse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case shows that sexual abuse can be hidden behind a facade of respectability,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also shows that no individual, irrespective of their position, status or public reputation, is beyond the reach of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victims welcomed the sentence, but said nothing could undo the damage of Donaldson\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy childhood was stolen from me and I will never get it back,\u201d victim A said in a statement read by a police officer outside court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conviction does not erase the abuse or undo the impact of what happened to me, and I will always carry the consequences of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut those responsible do not control me now. They forever changed me, but they will not take my future. The cycle is being broken and it ends with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victim B said that \u201cwhat happened to me as a child has affected everything since then, every day and every relationship I have ever had.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stood up, many years later, because for me this is about drawing a line in the sand and knowing that the Donaldsons can no longer hurt anyone else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Donaldson\u2019s lawyer, Kieran Vaughan, said at a presentencing hearing that his client had achieved \u201csignificant things in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese convictions obliterate all those achievements he has made in his life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n