Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers possessed intelligence indicating Jeffrey Donaldson was alleged to have committed sex abuse approximately a year before formal complaints were lodged, a BBC investigation has revealed. This information reportedly emerged after a detective and a child safeguarding expert spoke with a victim.
According to the report, this intelligence suggested that Donaldson, as a constituency Member of Parliament, had access to vulnerable adults and young people. It is suggested that such information should have been escalated to the chief constable. If the chief constable had determined that there was a national security risk concerning the potential leadership vacuum within the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), he would have been obligated to inform the government.
Complainant A and Complainant B officially named Donaldson as their abuser during a meeting with police in March 2024. Previously, the victims' accounts detailed sexual abuse that occurred between 1985 and 2008, when they were children. These allegations could lead to Donaldson being convicted on 18 counts of sex abuse, including one count of rape. Donaldson is currently in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
Donaldson's wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, underwent a trial of the facts on mental health grounds. A jury was tasked with determining whether she committed the acts she was accused of. The jury found that she had committed the acts related to all five charges, including four counts of aiding and abetting her husband's offenses.
In response to inquiries from Spotlight about whether the PSNI had prior intelligence on Donaldson and what risk assessments were conducted, the police service stated: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland have conducted a thorough investigation into non-recent sexual abuse allegations. As legal proceedings are ongoing, we will not be making any comment."