DUP announces independent review into fresh claims involving Jeffrey Donaldson

By Rebecca Black and Claudia Savage, Press Association

The DUP has announced an independent review following the emergence of fresh allegations surrounding its disgraced former leader, Jeffrey Donaldson.

Senior members of the DUP earlier denied the party had any knowledge of inappropriate behaviour by the convicted paedophile before the former leader’s arrest over historical sex abuse allegations.

In a statement on Friday night, the DUP said its leadership are “deeply concerned” by allegations that have surfaced in recent days relating to inappropriate behaviour by Donaldson, and the indication that some may have had knowledge of inappropriate behaviour but which was never reported to party officers.

Earlier, Stormont Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said Donaldson was “duplicitous” and there was “no inkling” in the party about his propensity for exploitative or abusive conduct.

Mr Lyons’ party colleague and Education Minister Paul Givan said there were rumours about Donaldson, but no evidence, and none of a “criminal nature”.

On Monday, a jury of seven men and five women at Newry Crown Court unanimously found Donaldson, 63, guilty of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children.

Responding to the conviction, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the party was “shocked” by his predecessor’s “filthy and vile” actions.

Subsequent media reports this week have raised questions about how much was known within the DUP about Donaldson’s wider conduct in the period before his 2024 arrest over sex abuse allegations.

Questions have also been raised around whether there was an awareness that he was allegedly engaged in behaviour in his private life that, although legal, was very much at odds with positions he adopted publicly.

BBC Spotlight has reported that some senior DUP figures were aware of another woman, who was not involved in the recent court case, who had previously raised concerns about Donaldson’s behaviour but had not wished to make a formal complaint.

Jeffrey Donaldson is a vile and reprehensible being, and I am pleased that justice has been done

Spotlight has also reported that two senior PSNI officers observed Donaldson entering a sauna in London that marketed itself as a meeting place for gay men in 2006 – despite the politician referring to homosexuality as “sinful” in the same year.

In a statement on Friday night, the DUP said it “acted swiftly” when Donaldson was first charged.

“As a party we believe in the rule of law and that criminal proceedings must take their full course,” they said.

“Justice has been served with the guilty verdicts against him.

“The party leader Gavin Robinson, deputy leader Michelle McIlveen and party chairman are deeply concerned by allegations that have surfaced in recent days relating to inappropriate behaviour on behalf of Jeffrey Donaldson, and the indication that some may have had knowledge of inappropriate behaviour but which was never reported to the party officers.”

They went on: “The party leadership have today commenced the process of commissioning a specialised and detailed independent review into a number of issues arising following the conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson and further details will be announced shortly.”

Speaking to the Press Association earlier on Friday, Mr Lyons said: “This week has been important because victims have got justice.

“Jeffrey Donaldson is a vile and reprehensible being, and I am pleased that justice has been done.

“I am pleased that, because of the bravery of two women who were prepared to come forward, that as a result justice has been done, and I think it is right that that is the case.

“There will be many people who will be asking questions, but I want to be very clear – this is not something that I was aware of, and many journalists, and many other people that knew him a lot longer than I did, had no inkling about what is being talked about, and what it is that he has done.

“So I’m very, very clear about Jeffrey Donaldson, about what he has done, very, very clear that he needs a lengthy sentence that not only reflects the seriousness of his crimes, but also the fact that he put his victims through the trial and all of the trauma that that would have caused them.

“As a party, we are very, very clear – we did not receive any complaints of this nature at all, and if we had, of course, those would have been investigated, and I just want to be very, very clear today on that, and want people to remember the victims in all of this, and make sure that people have confidence that justice is being done.”

Asked if senior figures in the party had considered Donaldson, who frequently espoused his devout Christian values as an integral part of his political platform, to be a hypocrite, Mr Lyons said the revelation was “a shock” to him personally.

“It was a shock, not only to people in my party and in other parties, but there was shock across the media and across society, and I think that is reflective of what people think,” he said.

Commenting on the court case, Mr Lyons said: “He was a duplicitous individual; he has done depraved and evil things.

“I am glad that justice has been done, and I want that lengthy sentence now to reflect that well.”

Another issue that has emerged for the party is the claim from Jamie Bryson, a high-profile unionist commentator, who told the BBC’s Nolan programme on Friday that he was sent by Donaldson to Dublin to represent the DUP at a meeting with Irish government officials.

Mr Bryson claimed he also crafted speeches and policy positions for the former leader.

Mr Lyons said Mr Bryson was “certainly not acting on behalf of the Democratic Unionist Party”.

“That was not something that would have been sanctioned, but again, this goes back to one individual, to Jeffrey Donaldson, and it’s been very, very clear how duplicitous he has been, and that is not certainly something that was sanctioned by the DUP,” he said.

Asked if he denied Mr Bryson’s influence over the party, the Communities Minister said: “That is certainly not something that I was aware of, and that also I can assure you will have come as a shock to many, many people within the party.”

Meanwhile, asked what was known in terms of Donaldson’s behaviour, Mr Givan told UTV: “I think you need to differentiate between what were crimes against children and what were rumours.

“There were rumours about Jeffrey Donaldson, but being able to provide evidence to back up what people were speculating, those are two different things … again, having evidence is what is important in that respect.

“And what I’m hearing in terms of the rumours, these related to adults in that respect, not of a criminal nature, but I don’t have the information on this, people are asking me and others to speculate about unknowns.”

Donaldson’s legal representatives have been approached for comment.