Judge imposes supervision order on Eleanor Donaldson for aiding husband’s sex abuse of children
A judge has imposed a supervision and treatment order on Eleanor Donaldson, the wife of the former DUP leader and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Donaldson , for aiding and abetting his child sex offending. In a hearing at Newry Crown Court on Friday, Judge Paul Ramsey imposed the order, which he said would run for a period of three years. She was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years. Eleanor Donaldson was not required to be physically present in court, but appeared briefly via video-link alongside her solicitor to permit the judge to explain the court’s decision to her. Asked if she understood, she replied: “Yes.” During the sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard three of the counts of aiding and abetting related to the rape of a primary school child. Prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh said the evidence was that Eleanor Donaldson had directed the victim, known as Complainant B, into the room where she knew serious sexual offending would occur. ‘The only person telling lies is you’ – the full story of Jeffrey Donaldson’s abuse trial Both victims were present in court for the brief hearing on Friday morning. Walsh reminded the court of extracts from their victim impact statements, in which Complainant A said it had a “profound” impact on her and she “cannot comprehend not wanting to protect a child”. Complainant B said in her victim impact statement that she had questioned why this had happened to her and “what did I do wrong that you didn’t make it stop?” Eleanor Donaldson was deemed medically unfit to stand trial and was instead prosecuted under a trial of the facts, which proceeded alongside her husband’s trial on child sex offences at Newry Crown Court earlier this year. Unlike a conventional trial, anyone prosecuted under a trial of the facts cannot be found guilty, but the jury unanimously agreed she had done the acts – four counts of aiding and abetting her husband’s offending and one of child cruelty – she was charged with. Eleanor Donaldson was not present for the trial of the facts but was represented in court by her own legal team. She is appealing the decision. Jeffrey Donaldson (63) is also appealing his conviction for 18 sex offences, including rape, which were committed against two women when they were children, on dates between 1985 and 2008. The same jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty on one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault on a female and four counts of gross indecency with or towards a child. Last month, Jeffrey Donaldson was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison , but because he qualifies for an automatic 50 per cent remission of his sentence, so he will spend 7½ years in prison and the rest on licence.