Claire McNabMay 20

A judge has ruled that the wife of former #DUP leader #JeffreyDonaldson is unfit to face a criminal trial on sexual offences charges due to the state of her mental health.

60yo Eleanor Donaldson will now face a "trial of facts". A jury will decide whether she committed the offences, but they cannot find her guilty.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2026/0520/1574342-eleanor-donaldson/

I assume that the judge weighed the facts impartially. But still, it seems to be mostly rich people who get this option of a #TrialOfTheFacts.

Show threadBrendan HalpinMay 20
@2legged Ernest Saunders (still alive)
Show threadClaire McNab

@bthalpin Thanks for the reminder about Ernest Saunders and the Guinness Four, but that was not a #TrialOfTheFacts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Saunders

Ernest Saunders - Wikipedia

May 20 at 9:59pmWeb
Show threadBrendan HalpinMay 21
@2legged It was from the sentence, not the trial, that medical magic spared him.
Show threadClaire McNabMay 21

@bthalpin Saunders situation was very different.

Eleanor Donaldson cannot be found guilty. She cannot be sentenced.

Ernest Saunders was convicted at trial. He was imprisoned.

On appeal, his sentence was halved, the medical grounds for that may be dodgy, but he is a convicted criminal. Eleanor Donaldson will not be.