Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, has been placed on the sex offender register for five years for aiding and abetting sexual offences by her disgraced husband.
Eleanor Donaldson appeared via remote link at Newry crown court to hear the order on Friday one month after her husband, the former Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, was convicted of abusing two women when they were children.
The ۶۰-year-old bowed her head and cried as Judge Paul Ramsey imposed a three-year supervision and treatment order as well as placing her on the sex offender register. Asked if she understood the court order, she nodded and said yes.
In June her husband was convicted of ۱۸ sexual offences, including one count of rape, spanning ۱۹۸۵ to ۲۰۰۸. The case stunned Northern Ireland and destroyed the career and reputation of a politician who had been the leading voice of unionism. In October he was sentenced to ۱۵ years.
His wife faced a trial of the facts after being deemed unfit to participate in a conventional trial on mental health grounds. A jury found that she had aided and abetted her husband’s abuse.
She could not be given a prison sentence, only a hospital order, a supervised treatment order or a discharge. Two experts, one for the prosecution and one for the defence, told the court that a supervised treatment order was the most appropriate option.
The victims, known as complainants A and B, were in court for the hearing on Friday. The prosecutor, Rosemary Walsh KC, told the court that “pain permeated” their statements.
Donaldson’s three-minute appearance on screen was the first time she had been seen in court since ۲۰۲۵. Wearing a black jumper, and with close-cropped hair and two cuts on her forehead, she cast her eyes down and held a tissue.
The judge told the court the medical evidence about her was unchallenged and that a supervision and treatment order was “inevitable”. Donaldson would be under the supervision of a social worker from the Craigavon community mental health team for three years, he said.
This would require attending appointments, treatment and home visits, said Ramsey. She will be subject to the notification provisions of the sex offender register for five years.
Bronagh Muldoon, the assistant director for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Northern Ireland, said aiding and abetting abuse required consequences.
“It is right and important that the role she played in these terrible crimes has been recognised in court today. The women involved in this case have shown incredible bravery in coming forward to ensure the Donaldsons have both been held accountable,” Muldoon said.
The former DUP leader is appealing against his convictions and his wife is appealing against the jury verdict.
