Case of Eleanor Donaldson due back in Newry Crown Court for finalisation

The case of Eleanor Donaldson is due to return to Newry Crown Court for finalisation on Friday.

The court will conclude the case against the wife of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson after she was found to have aided and abetted his sex offending against two women when they were children.

The Northern Ireland Court Service confirmed in September that she is to appeal the decision of her trial of the facts.

She had been deemed medically unfit to take part in a conventional trial alongside her husband. Instead, she was prosecuted under a trial of the facts at Newry Crown Court in June.

A jury unanimously agreed Eleanor Donaldson carried out the acts in relation to the five charges she faced, four of aiding and abetting her husband’s offending and one of child cruelty.

Her case ran simultaneously with Jeffrey Donaldson’s criminal trial. She was not present in court but had legal representation as his co-accused in the case.

Unlike a criminal trial, jurors cannot find a defendant guilty of any offence during a trial of the facts. She will not face a prison sentence or be placed on the sex offenders’ register due to the process.

Options available to the judge, instead of a sentence, include Eleanor Donaldson being committed to a secure hospital unit or being subject to a supervision order.

An absolute discharge can also be imposed, which means no suitable punishment or order is applicable.

Lawyers representing Jeffrey Donaldson (63) have indicated he intends to appeal his conviction. His offending took place between 1985 and 2008.

The former Lagan Valley MP was found guilty of all 18 sex offences, including rape, which were committed against two women when they were children.

Donaldson was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the rape charge and the other offences against his first victim, and a further four years for the offences committed against his second victim, to run consecutively – a total sentence of 15 years.

Donaldson qualifies for an automatic 50 per cent remission of his sentence, so he will spend seven-and-a-half years in prison and the rest on licence.