Wife of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson placed on sex offender register

Eleanor Donaldson has been placed on the sex offender register for five years after a jury found that she aided and abetted sexual offences committed by her husband, Jeffrey Donaldson, according to The Guardian. The register is an official list of people convicted of sexual offences. She appeared by remote link at Newry Crown Court for the order, and Judge Paul Ramsey also imposed a three-year supervision and treatment order on her.

Jeffrey Donaldson is a former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a Northern Ireland political party. In June he was convicted of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape covering the period from 1985 to 2008. In October he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sexual offences.

Eleanor Donaldson was judged unfit to take part in a conventional trial on mental health grounds. Her case instead went to a trial of the facts, a procedure used when a defendant cannot be tried in the ordinary way. A jury then found that she had aided and abetted her husband's abuse. Aiding and abetting means helping or encouraging someone else to commit an offence.

Under the supervision order, she will be overseen for three years by a social worker from the Craigavon community mental health team, the local service that supports people with mental health needs.

Both convictions are being challenged. Jeffrey Donaldson is appealing against his convictions, and Eleanor Donaldson is appealing against the jury verdict.