FORMER DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of all 18 historical sex abuse charges brought against him, including rape.
The 63-year-old former Lagan Valley MP had pleaded not guilty to all 18 offences.
The charges arise from allegations from two women from when they were children.
Remanding him into custody the judge said Mr Donaldson faces a lengthy custodial sentence. He will be sentenced on September 25.
He is also being placed on the sex offenders’ list.
The jury of seven men and five women finds Eleanor Donaldson committed the acts she was charged with including five charges of aiding and abetting her husband's offending, following a trial of the facts.
Who is Jeffrey Donaldson?
Jeffrey Donaldson first came to prominence as a political figure in the mid-1980s when he was elected in 1985 to the short-lived Northern Ireland Assembly for the South Down constituency. Before that he had had worked for South Down MP Enoch Powell.
He was a member of the Orange Order and served in the British Army’s Ulster Defence Association.
In 1997 he was elected MP for Lagan Valley for the UUP, however, his relationship with the party would soon come under strain with David Trimble’s signing and endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement.
In 2003 he defected to the DUP where he rose through the ranks as the DUP replaced the UUP as the leading unionist party.
Between 2008 to 2009 Donaldson served as a Junior Minister in Stormont’s Northern Ireland Executive.
In 2019 he lost to Edwin Poots in the DUP leadership election, however, after Poots resigned the following months Donaldson was elected unopposed to become leader of the DUP.
In March 2024 Jeffrey Donaldson stepped down as leader of the DUP after being charged with historical sex offences, including rape. The DUP suspended his membership.
