Jeffrey Donaldson, former leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party and one of its longest-serving MPs, has been found guilty at Newry Crown Court of historic child sexual offences against two victims. The jury convicted him of rape, thirteen counts of indecent assault, and four counts of gross indecency, relating to offences committed between 1985 and 2008. Donaldson was knighted in 2016 and in early 2024 brokered a landmark post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland which restored devolved government at Stormont. He resigned from the DUP immediately upon being charged in March 2024, and had previously spoken publicly about his Christian faith, often wearing an ichthys badge. His wife Eleanor, found to have aided and abetted him, was ruled unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds, though a concurrent hearing established the facts against her. The verdicts have deeply shocked political and faith communities across Northern Ireland.