Disgraced politician Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife placed on sex offenders’ register for ‘aiding and abetting’ paedophile husband

Eleanor Donaldson, wife of former Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson, has been placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years after a court found she had helped cover up his child sex offences. The ruling follows Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction for offences against two victims, and the court also imposed a three-year supervision and treatment order on his wife.

At a trial of the facts, Eleanor Donaldson was found to have committed acts linked to five charges, including four of aiding and abetting her husband’s abuse. The court heard she witnessed one assault but left and shut the door. Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, was convicted of 18 offences committed between 1985 and 2008, including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency; he was sentenced to 15 years and will serve half in prison.