Jeffrey Donaldson, unlike his two victims who sat a short distance from him in Newry Crown Court, showed no emotion as a 15-year prison sentence was handed down on Thursday.
Hands clasped in front of him, the former DUP leader stood in the dock and tilted his head slightly as Judge Paul Ramsey told him that his “prolonged campaign” of sex offences against young children had led to a “catastrophic descent into disgrace”.
Dressed in a navy suit and pink tie, the 63-year-old was clean-shaven; his appearance unaltered from the weeks before his dramatic arrest in March 2024 when he was the toast of Washington following Stormont’s restoration.
However, gone was the Christian fish pin he had worn on his lapel throughout the four-week trial in June.
The woman Donaldson had raped as a nine-year-old girl almost 40 years ago sat with her head bowed throughout the 30-minute sentencing hearing. It was not until the former Lagan Valley MP was led away that she broke down.
The second and younger victim of the two women sat behind her. She stared at Donaldson throughout the judge’s sentencing remarks.
She blinked away tears as he was returned to custody.
The small, wood-panelled courtroom fell silent while the judge read extracts from the women’s harrowing victim impact statements.
“Every day I pray to God to let me die”, said the woman he raped, known as Complainant B throughout the trial.
She wondered what it is like “not to be afraid at night”, the court heard.
The trauma of the sex abuse she suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Donaldson – he was 25 years old when he raped her – had affected every day of her life and “every relationship I’ve ever had”.
“What would it be like not to wake up shaking, not to have nightmares and not to lock away every feeling I have?” she said.
“What happened took away my ability to trust people and, in all honesty, I don’t think I really know what trust or love truly is. Nothing can ever change what was done to me. I wish it could.”
Ramsey relayed how the younger victim had grown up feeling “ashamed and dirty” with “extremely low self-worth”.
Her childhood had been “stolen” from her.
The impact of sustained sexual abuse had led to her being on medication since her 20s; it was “suffocating and debilitating”.
The victim’s husband, who gave evidence during the trial, sat beside her in the public gallery.
They were accompanied by a team of police liaison officers who had been present during each day of the trial.
No members of the public were allowed in the court. The two victims have been granted anonymity for life.
“What was done to me has broken me,” the judge read from Complainant A’s statement.
She wants the court to understand that, he said.
Donaldson listened intently but remained impassive throughout.
Some of the sentencing comments included graphic details of the rape.
Both women gave evidence during the trial from a separate room in the Co Down courthouse, which was streamed on video in the main courtroom.
They underwent days of cross-examination from Donaldson’s barrister, as well as the barrister of Eleanor Donaldson, his wife and co-accused.
Eleanor Donaldson, who was found to have “done the acts” in relation to aiding and abetting charges under a trial of the facts, will be dealt with at a separate disposal hearing next month.
On Thursday, the judge described the devastating impact of the high-profile trial on the victims.
They had been “retraumatised” by the “public nature” of the case and its fallout.
There had been social media scrutiny and intrusion into their private lives, and even friendships had been affected, the court heard.
The reality has been “so much harder to bear than anticipated” and has had a “profound impact”, the younger victim said of her trial experience.
Doing this “so publicly has been horrific”, she added.
[ Woman sentenced to three months for breaching anonymity of Donaldson victimsOpens in new window ]
To compound the victim’s trauma, Donaldson has “doubled down on his denials” and shown no remorse, Ramsey told the court.
He has sought leave to appeal his conviction since being found guilty in a unanimous verdict on all 18 sex offences committed between 1985 and 2008.
“There has not been, and doubtless will not be, one word of regret, apology or shame from this man to at least provide his victims with some crumb of comfort,” Ramsey said in his closing sentencing remarks.
It was only through the “courage, resourcefulness and determination of two young women” that he had been brought to justice for the crimes he had committed against them when they were children.
Outside the court, the courage of the two victims was also singled out by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
Their bravery in coming forward to report historic sex abuse was the “catalyst” for a “thorough PSNI investigation”, Catherine Kierans, head of the PPS serious crime unit, told the media.
An hour before he was driven away in a prison van to Maghaberry prison outside Lisburn to begin his sentence, senior investigating officer in the case, Leah Crothers, outlined how “important” Thursday was for victims.
A former knight of the realm had been brought to justice.
“The police service and our criminal justice system has sent a clear message – no one is above the law.”