Jailed former Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson faces a fresh Metropolitan Police inquiry over an alleged rape inside the Houses of Parliament in 2016, the BBC can reveal. The 63-year-old, already serving 15 years for historical child sex offences, is being interviewed in connection with a new complaint; the Met says no arrest has been made and the investigation remains at an early stage. The allegation was referred to London officers by the Police Service of Northern Ireland after the complainant was interviewed by PSNI officers.
A case revisited
Last week Donaldson was sentenced for a series of child sex offences against two victims dating back to between 1985 and 2008. While appealing those convictions, he now confronts separate allegations from a woman who, according to the Belfast Telegraph, says she was sexually assaulted by Donaldson in the DUP offices at Parliament in 2016 and later alleges he raped her in the Palace of Westminster that same year. Concerns about his behaviour in London were previously raised in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight film, which reported former senior PSNI detectives observing him drunk inside the parliamentary precincts and entering a gay sauna near Parliament in 2006 – the same year he had described homosexuality as “sinful.”
Why it matters
The case touches the heart of the Westminster political establishment: an alleged offence inside the very chamber where laws are debated, and a convicted former cabinet minister still formally appealing his past convictions. It also renews questions about how Parliament vets and monitors MPs, and whether the support systems for complainants are robust enough. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Commons agenda is likely to absorb the political fallout, with opposition parties already signalling that questions will be asked of whoever authorised Donaldson’s continued access to parliamentary buildings.
What happens next
The Metropolitan Police investigation is expected to take several months, with detectives planning to interview Donaldson through his legal representatives while he remains in custody serving his existing sentence. The Crown Prosecution Service will then decide whether any fresh charge is in the public interest, and a date for Donaldson’s appeal against his 15-year term is set to be heard later this year.
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