Eleanor Donaldson placed on supervision order for aiding husband's child sex abuse

Supervision order at Newry Crown Court

Judge Paul Ramsey imposed a supervision and treatment order on Eleanor Donaldson on Friday, 13 November 2026. She appeared by video link, her first appearance since early this year, and looked tearful as the judge explained the decision. The order will run for three years, and her name will also go on the sex offenders' register for five years. Asked whether she understood, she said yes. Eleanor Donaldson is the wife of Jeffrey Donaldson, the former DUP leader convicted of child sex offences, and her case had been listed to return to Newry Crown Court for finalisation that Friday.

Why she faced a trial of the facts

Eleanor Donaldson was judged medically unfit to face a conventional trial alongside her husband, so she was prosecuted through a trial of the facts instead. That process ran at Newry Crown Court in June 2026, alongside Jeffrey Donaldson's trial on child sex offences. Under this procedure a defendant cannot be found guilty, and the jury decides only whether the acts were carried out. Jurors unanimously agreed that she carried out the acts in five charges: four of aiding and abetting her husband's offending and one of child cruelty. She was not in court for that trial, though her own legal team represented her.

Instead of a sentence, the judge could have committed her to a secure hospital unit, imposed a supervision order or granted an absolute discharge. The judge chose supervision.

What the court heard about the offences

Prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh told the court that the evidence showed Eleanor Donaldson had directed Complainant B into the room where serious sexual offending would take place. Three of the counts of aiding and abetting related to the rape of a child. Both complainants attended the brief hearing on Friday morning. Complainant A said the offending had a profound effect on her, and that she could not understand anyone not wanting to protect a child. Complainant B wrote in her victim impact statement that she had asked why this had happened to her and what she had done wrong that no one stopped it.

Jeffrey Donaldson's sentence and appeals

Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, the former Lagan Valley MP, was found guilty of all 18 sex offences committed against two women when they were children, between 1985 and 2008. Among the guilty verdicts were one rape, 13 indecent assaults on a female and four gross indecency offences. He was sentenced in October 2026 to 15 years in prison: 11 years for the rape and the other offences against his first victim, plus four years for the offences against his second victim, to run consecutively. He qualifies for automatic 50 per cent remission, so he will spend seven and a half years in prison and the rest on licence. His lawyers have said he intends to appeal his conviction. Eleanor Donaldson is also appealing the trial of the facts decision, a step the Northern Ireland Court Service confirmed in September 2026.

First victim (rape and other offences)11

Second victim4

First victim (rape and other offences)

11 years

Second victim

4 years

Data from the article text