ELEANOR DONALDSON HAS applied to appeal the verdict from her trial of the facts that she aided and abetted her husband Jeffrey Donaldson’s abuse of two children. 

The Northern Ireland Courts Service confirmed to The Journal that an application for leave to appeal has been lodged. 

Jeffrey Donaldson (63) was found guilty in June of 18 sexual offences following a four-week trial at Newry Crown Court.

He was convicted of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency, which he committed against two women when they were children, on dates between 1985 and 2008.

He was remanded in custody to Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn in Co Antrim, and is expected to be sentenced in October. 

The former DUP leader is appealing the convictions. 

Eleanor Donaldson (60) was found to have aided and abetted his crimes after a trial of the facts, which was granted on mental health grounds.

Unlike a normal trial, it cannot result in a criminal conviction, but the jury can determine if the person committed the alleged offences.

The trial of the facts ran alongside her husband’s criminal trial at Newry Crown Court.