Jeffrey Donaldson facing more sex offence charges

The former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is to face additional sex offence charges when he appears in court on Wednesday.

He is now being accused of a total of 18 offences, after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) considered the police evidence.

Initially, when he appeared in court in April, the ex-MP was accused of 11 offences.

His wife and co-accused, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, is to face five charges.

Originally it was four.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1985 and 2008 and involve two alleged victims.

The pair were arrested at their home on 28 March and charged by police after a day of questioning.

They were released on bail.

Sir Jeffrey, 61, resigned as DUP leader after being charged.

In a letter to the party he said he would be strenuously contesting the charges.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was elected leader of the DUP in 2021.

He is Northern Ireland's longest-serving MP, having been first elected to Parliament in 1997 as a representative of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)

He first entered politics when he worked for MP Enoch Powell between 1982 and 1984 after joining the UUP.

Sir Jeffrey's own career in front-line politics began in 1985 when he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as its youngest member.

In 2003 he left the UUP to join the DUP due to his long-standing opposition to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the leadership of David Trimble.

Sir Jeffrey recently steered the DUP back into government in Northern Ireland ending a two-year boycott of the devolved institutions.

He was knighted in 2016 for political service.