Eleanor Donaldson given supervision order and placed on sex offenders' register

The wife of former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Donaldson has been placed under a supervision order for three years.

Appearing before Newry Crown Court, via video link, for the first time since early this year, a tearful Eleanor Donaldson was also told she would be placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.

When Judge Paul Ramsey asked if she understood that she would be subjected to a supervision treatment order (STO), she nodded her head and said "yes".

Eleanor Donaldson could not be given a prison sentence as she faced a 'trial of the facts' as it was determined she was medically unfit for a criminal trial.

She was found to have done the acts in relation to five charges, including four of aiding and abetting her husband's offending.

Last month her husband Jeffrey Donaldson was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a series of child sex offences against two victims, including one count of rape, which took place between 1985 and 2008. He is seeking to appeal against his convictions.