DUP seeks to distance party from ‘wicked deceiver’ Jeffrey Donaldson

Jeffrey Donaldson leaving Newry crown court on 19 June after the jury had retired to consider its verdict. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA View image in fullscreen Jeffrey Donaldson leaving Newry crown court on 19 June after the jury had retired to consider its verdict. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA DUP seeks to distance party from ‘wicked deceiver’ Jeffrey Donaldson Denunciation comes after former Democratic Unionist leader convicted of child sexual offences The Democratic Unionist party has denounced Jeffrey Donaldson as a “wicked deceiver” who led a “double and duplicitous life” a day after its former leader was convicted of child sexual offences . Leaders at the Stormont assembly on Tuesday sought to distance the DUP from Donaldson and described him as a manipulator who had hoodwinked Northern Ireland and hid his crimes behind a facade of respectability and Christian faith. “Jeffrey Donaldson abused positions of trust and power over many years while concealing vile and manipulative behaviour,” the DUP deputy leader, Michelle McIlveen, told the assembly. “It is now clear that Jeffrey Donaldson led a double and duplicitous life.” Jonathan Buckley, a DUP assembly member, said the party had been led by an “evil sexual predator”, a “fraudulent monster” and a “wicked deceiver” who concealed his true nature. The sincerity of revulsion is not in question but analysts noted the DUP is facing a battle to dissociate itself from Donaldson before local and assembly elections next year. The denunciations came as the former Lagan Valley MP spent his first full day at Maghaberry, a high-security prison in county Antrim. There is speculation he may be moved to a prison in Great Britain, where he would have a lower profile among prisoners. After a four-week trial , a jury at Newry crown court on Monday convicted the 63-year-old of 18 offences including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency against two victims, who were children at the time of the abuse more than 30 years ago. Donaldson had denied the charges and accused the victims of lying. The trial judge, Paul Ramsey, said a “lengthy” prison sentence was inevitable. View image in fullscreen The DUP leader, Gavin Robinson, speaks to the media in Belfast after Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction, as the deputy first minister, Emma Little-Pengelly (right), listens. Photograph: Niall Carson/Liam McBurney/PA The jury found that Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, 60, aided and abetted his offending. Deemed unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds, she faced a trial of the facts, which tests the evidence but does not result in a criminal conviction. The verdict shattered what was left of the reputation of Donaldson, a polished media performer who had dominated unionism in Northern Ireland and Westminster and helped to broker the Windsor framework. There have been widespread calls to strip him of his knighthood, awarded in 2016 for services to politics. The Orange Order, a loyalist organisation that counted Donaldson as a