Northern Ireland's Donaldson jailed for 15 years for child sex offences

By Amanda Ferguson NEWRY, Northern Ireland, Oct 15 (Reuters) — The former leader of Northern Ireland's largest unionist party, Jeffrey Donaldson, was jailed for 15 years on Thursday for historic child sex offences that were described by the judge as representing "a catastrophic descent into disgrace". Donaldson, 63, was convicted in June of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency against two women at dates between 1985 and 2008 in one of the highest-profile cases in the British-run region in recent times. He 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. Donaldson, dressed in a blue suit, was motionless and stared straight ahead as Judge Paul Ramsey handed down the sentence. Ramsey described the case as "disturbing and disquieting" and assessed Donaldson as having a medium chance of reoffending. Donaldson, who has been in prison awaiting sentence since June, denied all charges and is seeking to appeal against his convictions. Prosecution lawyer Rosemary Walsh told a pre-sentencing hearing last month that one of the victims desc