Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty on 18 sexual offence charges including one count of rape.<\/p>\n
The rape charge is the most serious charge of the 18 counts he faced, which arose from allegations by two women that he abused them when they were children.<\/p>\n
He was also found guilty of 13 counts of indecent assault and four of gross indecency.<\/p>\n
The jury of five women and seven men resumed their deliberations at Newry Crown Court this morning at his sex offences trial, taking just over ten hours to return a verdict.<\/p>\n
Donaldson gave no reaction as the guilty verdicts were read out.<\/p>\n
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n The judge remanded him in custody saying a “lengthy sentence of imprisonment” was inevitable.<\/p>\n Donaldson was remanded in custody for sentencing on 25 September, with a review hearing earlier that month.<\/p>\n The judge thanked the jury for their close attention over four weeks of evidence.<\/p>\n The judge said that as a result of the conviction, Donaldson would now be placed on the sex offenders register.<\/p>\n When he had finished addressing the defendant, Judge Paul Ramsey told the custody officers to “take Mr Donaldson down”.<\/p>\n He was then taken into custody.<\/p>\n