A jury at Newry Crown Court convicted Jeffrey Donaldson of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, committed against two complainants between 1985 and 2008. Donaldson, then 63 and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, had pleaded not guilty; his wife was found to have aided and abetted the offences in a trial of the facts after being ruled mentally unfit. He was arrested in March 2024 and resigned as party leader immediately after charges were filed.