Diarmuid Pepper Reporting from Newry Crown Court
ON THE FIRST day Jeffrey Donaldson appeared at Newry Courthouse, there were chaotic scenes outside.
Following his and his wife Eleanor’s arrest on 28 March 2024, the pair were sat together in the dock around a month later, on 24 April.
A large crowd had formed awaiting his departure but a swift get away from the public and photographers was twice thwarted.
On the first occasion, the car was not ready to collect him and he had to retreat back into the grounds of the courthouse.
When he reappeared for a second time, a large crowd surrounded the car before he left Newry Courthouse.
A man was arrested for allegedly spitting at a PSNI officer who was trying to get Donaldson out of court – the car was never late upon departure again.
Deliberations
When the trial started on 26 May, there was a large media presence but few members of the public had come out.
As proceedings wore on, the crowd of photographers getting snaps of Donaldson on his way to and from court also seemed to thin.
But last Thursday, the media presence was back at full force with the expectation that a verdict would be delivered.
Jeffrey Donaldson arriving at Newry Crown Court as jury deliberations enter their second day @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/kQFhxZVn9z
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) June 19, 2026
While the jury would not arrive at court until 10.30am to begin their second day of deliberations, on Friday morning, photographers sat in the pouring rain awaiting Donaldson’s arrival.
Throughout the trial, Donaldson had sat in the dock in the back of the room, with his arms folded for much of the duration.
One journalist in the overflow room ahead of the first day of deliberations remarked that Donaldson didn’t look like a man who could soon be convicted of sexual offences.
Inside the courthouse
Court Five in Newry Courthouse has been used as the overflow room for journalists who cannot fit inside Court One, which hosted the Donaldson trial.
From Court Five, reporters could see live footage of the trial and the camera angle showed the barristers in the front and Donaldson at the back of the room, with a security guard either side of him.
Reporters in the overflow had lobbied for access to Court One for the verdict, but this request was declined by the judge and only 10 reporters in total would be granted entry.
As the verdict came in, the camera zoomed right in to deliver a closer image of Donaldson as the verdict was announced.
On Friday, as the jury began their second day of deliberations, some journalists shared their expectations that the trial could come to a close later that day.
However, the media was in the hands of the jury, who were urged to take their time going through each of the 18 charges against Donaldson one by one.
At around 3pm on Friday, a member of the courts service entered the overflow room and summoned to 10 chosen journalists to Court One.
Every reporter in the overflow room bolted into position, awaiting a possible conclusion to the trial, and urgent calls were made to producers and editors to signal that the verdict could forthcoming.
But at 3.10pm, Judge Paul Ramsey remarked to the court that he was inclined to send the jury home for the weekend and to start afresh on Monday. That message was passed on to the jurors five minutes later.
At least one more day in Newry Courthouse was in store for the media who had travelled from all over Ireland, including one based in Cork, a four-hour drive away.
Verdict
This morning, an even larger cohort of media were awaiting Donaldson’s arrival, as well as members of the public, one of whom shouted disparaging remarks towards the former DUP leader.
Former DUP leader arriving at Newry Crown Court this morning as jury deliberations enter day three @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/lE2Lp90rPO
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) June 22, 2026
At around 12.30pm, activity could be seen in the courtroom and it turned out that the judge had been passed two notes from the jury.
One of these notes included a query about the definition of “aiding and abetting”.
Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, had denied several charges of aiding and abetting her husband.
She faced a trial of the facts on mental health grounds, which tested the evidence but could not result in a criminal conviction.
The judge said that “aiding and abetting” means that someone “assisted or encouraged those offences by a positive act, whether by words or deeds”.
He then reminded the jury that they must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Jeffrey committed the acts and that Eleanor assisted or encouraged the alleged acts, before sending them out for lunch.
There was now a feeling among the press was that a verdict would be imminent.
The jury returned from their lunch at around 1.45pm, and less than 20 minutes later, reporters were informed to expect a verdict.
The courts press officer confirmed it would not be a false dawn this time and that the verdict was to be read.
Every reporter readied themselves for the verdict, with last minute discussions taking place with editors on how to get the verdict out as quickly as possible and what the wording would be.
And so at 2.15pm, it was confirmed that Donaldson was found guilty of rape.
A stunned silence came over the room, and one by one, he was found guilty of all 18 charges.
“You may take Mr Donaldson down,” said the judge as Donaldson was remanded in custody.
His wife, Eleanor, was also found to have aided and abetted his crimes in a trial of the facts.
The media then raced outside to see Donaldson taken into custody. As reporters awaited his departure, they showed one another the Wikipedia page of the former DUP leader.
“Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a Northern Irish former politician and convicted sex offender,” it now read.
Many cars stopped to take in the scene and the PSNI had to spring to action to ensure that Donaldson could be taken from the court.
Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson taken away to custody in back of a police van from Newry Crown Court @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/a0iub6nRuX
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) June 22, 2026
At 3.06pm, the large gates of the Courthouse opened and out of it came a large police van with blacked out windows.
In it was a man who was once on the late Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours list. As the judge noted, he is now on a sex offenders list.