Eleanor Donaldson given supervision order and placed on sex offenders’ register

Judge Paul Ramsey made the supervision and treatment order at Newry Crown Court on 13 November. Donaldson, 60, appeared by video link.

A jury previously found that she had carried out the acts alleged in relation to five charges, including four of aiding and abetting her husband’s abuse. The court had found her medically unfit to stand trial, so her case was heard through a procedure known as a trial of the facts. It determines whether an accused person carried out the alleged acts but cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Under the three-year order, Donaldson must stay in contact with a social worker from the Craigavon Community Mental Health Team, attend appointments and undergo any required treatment, the BBC reported. The judge also told her she would be placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

UTV reported in May that Donaldson denied several charges of aiding and abetting her husband. Her lawyers applied for permission to appeal against the findings in September, according to The Irish Times.

Jeffrey Donaldson, a former leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in October for child sexual abuse offences, including rape. He had denied the charges and is seeking to appeal against his convictions.

At Friday’s hearing, prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh KC said “pain permeated” the victims’ impact statements, which also expressed anger and asked why the abuse had happened.