FORMER DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson is to give up his knighthood after being found guilty of 18 counts of child sex abuse.
The former Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley is also set to relinquish his place on the Privy Council.
On Monday, the 63-year-old was convicted of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency against two women when they were children.
“I have this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Cabinet Office indicating his request to renounce and forfeit his knighthood,” read a statement today from Donaldson’s solicitor.
“I have also this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Privy Council office tending his resignation from the Privy Council with immediate effect.”
Donaldson was awarded a knighthood in 2016 in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours for his service to politics.
In 2007, he was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, an advisory body to the British monarch.
Appointed for life by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, members can style themselves as ‘the Right Honourable’ and are required to take a special oath.
Donaldson will be sentenced for his crimes later this year, with the trial judge telling him he was facing a lengthy sentence.
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