Jeffrey Donaldson steps down as DUP leader after being charged with historical sex crimes -*Read OP*

Good, I do hope so, and I presume "Lady" Donaldson will become a mere Mrs. too.

Looking at this, it appears that the main offences happened since 1985. 

Seems as though Donaldsons daughters were born in 1990 and 1992.

So I would think that the offences were not his daughters. Sounds like it may have been vulnerable girls in the community.

They were not his children. You are right

"trial of the facts" what a load of horsesh!t!! If she's at risk of self harm then let the prison system deal with that.

Is the wife allowed to live at home, and is she free to live out her life without any sanction I wonder?

She was deemed not fit to stand trial, but was found to have aided and abetted JD.

No punishment for her. She was just as bad as him, although sometimes these women are totally controlled by their spouse, and I could see that happening with an arrogant so and so like JD. So who knows?

only partial justice served

Mrs D should have been led out in hand cuffs or be interred in psychiatric hospital

I'm actually amazed that he got a fair trial in NI! I'm sure he was hoping that at least one juror was a die hard orangeman that couldn't see any wrong in him. And that goes for the other side too!

It is true what they say. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. No sentence can undo the harm Jeffrey has done to the now adults. Both physical and psychological. It is very disturbing to think his wife partook in the abuse in some shape or form. Will she be sent to prison? Do we know how serious her 'assistance' was.

My heart goes out to the two girls. He and his wife have given them a lifelong burden from which they may never recover or heal from. Credit to the girls for pursuing justice. Jeffrey is one of the most prominent public figures in Northern Ireland. I wish the girls only well and hope they can get some joy from life as they move on from the verdict. As for the Donaldson's hell mend them.

Having followed the evidence throughout (albeit as reported as opposed to actually being there)- I felt the turning point was towards the end of week 2 when we heard the summary of his wife’s interview with the PSNI. She clearly admitted that something wasn’t “right” about the encounter she came across with Jeffrey and the young victim alone in a room together.

I thought that was a true gift to the prosecution and it was the only thing that came close to being an “eyewitness” to the alleged abuse incident.

But you’re correct- how the prosecution present the evidence to the jury is incredibly important - I thought they made it look easy but it wasn’t.

Defence response was the rather predictable “that never happened” narrative or similar, throughout. There was actually very little doubt that the defence could create- they tried by saying the victims couldn’t be fully trusted- but they never laid out their stall as to why they couldn’t be fully trusted.
They just sort of left that statement hanging there.

It was the last gasp of a dying wasp sort of effort and rightfully failed. When you try and discredit such strong testimony with that pathetic effort at creating doubt, you know it’s not going to run in your favour. Might have worked on a few jurors 30 years ago- but definitely not now

Sentencing in September. There will be appeals and all that stuff so might end up being delayed.

Such a hilarious pile of nonsense.