Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson to appeal child sex abuse convictions

The former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson is to appeal against his sex offence convictions, it has been confirmed.

Donaldson is in Maghaberry Prison waiting to be sentenced after he was convicted of 18 counts of sex abuse, including one count of rape, committed against two women when they were children.

His legal team lodged the paperwork with the Court of Appeal in Belfast on Friday.

The document sets out in detail the grounds on which he will attempt to have all 18 guilty verdicts set aside.

The move was announced in a short statement from Donaldson's solicitor, John McBurney.

It stated: "I can confirm having lodged this afternoon, on behalf of Jeffrey Donaldson, appeal papers with the relevant office for the Court of Appeal."

It was known Donaldson was considering this step.

The grounds potentially include some of the final remarks judge Paul Ramsey's made to the jury at Newry Crown Court.

They could also address an unsuccessful attempt by Donaldson's lawyers to have his trial separated from the trial of the facts of his wife, Eleanor Donaldson.

Had that happened, her police interview would not have been played at his trial.

His attempt to have his convictions overturned is unlikely to play out before he is sentenced.

The process will involve a hearing at which leave to appeal would either be granted or denied - it is speculated this could happen sometime in September.

Should leave be granted, a full hearing would then follow at a later stage.

Donaldson was convicted on 22 June 2026.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson had faced a trial of the facts on mental health grounds, meaning the jury was asked to find out if she did the acts or did not do the acts of which she was accused. She did not participate in proceedings

The jury also found that she had done the acts in relation to all five charges – including four counts of aiding and abetting her husband's offending.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 10 hours over three days before coming to their verdicts.

Donaldson was told by the judge that the sentence would be a lengthy one.

Following his conviction, he was taken from Newry Crown Court in the back of a prison van to Maghaberry Prison, which is situated in his former constituency of Lagan Valley.

On 24 June, Donaldson asked for his knighthood to be forfeited and tendered his resignation from the Privy Council with immediate effect.