22.10.2026 01:00
Former Northern Irish politician Jeffrey Donaldson, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sexual abuse offences, is now in the spotlight with a new allegation dating back years. The file on Donaldson, against whom an investigation was launched over allegations that he raped a woman at the Palace of Westminster, where the UK Parliament is located, in 2016, is being examined by London's Metropolitan Police.
An investigation has been launched into former Northern Irish politician Jeffrey Donaldson, who was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse offences against children, this time over allegations that he raped a woman in the UK Parliament. The Metropolitan Police is conducting the investigation into the offence alleged to have been committed in 2016.
REPORT FORWARDED FROM NORTHERN IRELAND POLICE TO LONDON
The Metropolitan Police announced that on 13 October it received a report from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) concerning an alleged rape offence said to have occurred in London in 2016.
In a police statement, it was stated that the suspect is a man now aged 63, while the investigation is still at an early stage and no arrest has been made so far.
The British public broadcaster BBC wrote that the person at the centre of the investigation is Jeffrey Donaldson, former leader of Northern Ireland's royalist Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). According to the BBC report, the alleged incident took place in the Palace of Westminster, where the UK Parliament is located.
WOMAN ALLEGES HER DRINK WAS DRUGGED
According to information in the BBC report, a woman reported Donaldson to the police in Northern Ireland. The woman alleged that her drink was drugged and that she was subsequently sexually assaulted.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland, assessing the report, forwarded the file to the Metropolitan Police because the incident was alleged to have occurred in London. The report also included details that a former Police Service of Northern Ireland officer saw Donaldson drunk in the Parliament building.
LAST WEEK HE WAS SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON
Jeffrey Donaldson was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse offences against children. A separate investigation is now being conducted into the former DUP leader over an allegation of rape said to have occurred in 2016.
The new investigation is still at an initial stage. No arrest has yet been made regarding the rape allegation; how the charges will be assessed in the judicial process will become clear at later stages of the investigation.