Child abuse scandal in Northern Ireland: 15 years in prison for former party leader

The verdict was announced in the case in which Donaldson, a pro-royalist Northern Irish politician who served as a member of the British Parliament for 27 years, was tried on 18 separate charges of sexual abuse against a child.

Donaldson, who resigned from all political positions after he was detained in 2024 while he was a royalist DUP leader, was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison for all 18 offenses he was found guilty of in June.

Donaldson's wife, Eleanor Donaldson, who is on trial on charges of aiding and abetting him, did not attend the court due to her health condition. It has not yet been announced what measure will be applied to Eleanor Donaldson, for whom the court found that she aided and abetted.

Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife have the opportunity to appeal the decision against them.

Following the hearing at Newry Royal Court in Northern Ireland, Donaldson's party, DUP, made a statement saying "Justice has been served".

In the written statement made by the party, the party said, "Justice was served as Jeffrey Donaldson was punished for the vile and disgusting crimes he committed against his victims. Our thoughts are with the innocent victims who were exposed to this evil and were re-traumatized by testifying in court."

The statement emphasized that everyone, regardless of their position and name, should be held accountable for their actions, and added: "He deserves every single day of the long prison sentence he was sentenced to after being found guilty of abusing innocent children."

Donaldson was taken into custody with his wife in March 2024 on 18 different charges that he allegedly committed against 2 women between 1985 and 2008, when they were children.

Donaldson, who denied the accusations, was found guilty of all of them in June, and court judge Paul Ramsey stated that Donaldson showed no remorse and increased his level of denial.