ELEANOR DONALDSON, the wife of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, has been placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.
Her husband was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month after a jury previously found him guilty of 18 counts of child sex abuse.
They comprised one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency carried out against two women when they were children between 1985 and 2008.
While Eleanor Donaldson was charged with aiding and abetting offences, she was deemed unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues and instead faced a trial of the facts.
Although this meant she could not be found guilty or face a prison sentence, a jury determined that she had carried out the acts relating to the five charges she had faced.
Four of the charges related to aiding and abetting her husband's crimes while a fifth was for child cruelty.
Eleanor Donaldson appeared briefly via video link at Newry Crown Court on Friday to hear the judge's sentencing.
The 60-year-old faced a discharge, hospital order, guardianship order or supervision treatment order.
Judge Paul Ramsey imposed the latter for a period of three years, during which she would be under the supervision of a social worker.
She was also placed on the sex offenders' register and will be subject to its notification provisions for five years.
Asked if she understood the order, she nodded and replied 'yes'.
Eleanor Donaldson has previously applied for leave to appeal the jury's finding that she carried out the acts that she had been charged with.
Her husband — who served as DUP leader for three years before stepping down in March 2024 after being charged — has also lodged paperwork to appeal his convictions.
Last month, it was revealed the former MP for Lagan Valley was being investigated over the alleged rape of a woman at the Houses of Parliament in 2016.
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