Donaldson, 63, was convicted in June of 18 counts of sexual abuse committed against two women when they were children. Judge Paul Ramsey, who will impose the sentence, has already told the court it will be a lengthy one. Donaldson has been held at Maghaberry Prison awaiting sentencing and is seeking to appeal against his convictions.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, faced a trial of the facts, pursued on mental health grounds, in which the jury was asked to establish whether she committed the acts she was accused of rather than return a verdict on guilt. The jury found she had done the acts in relation to all five charges, including four counts of aiding and abetting her husband's offending. She did not participate in the proceedings.
The case has prompted reviews within both parties Donaldson was associated with. The DUP has launched an independent review into a number of issues arising after the conviction, and the Ulster Unionist Party has opened a separate independent safeguarding review into his conduct during his 21-year membership, which ran from 1982 until he left the UUP to join the DUP in 2003.
In July, Donaldson was stripped of his knighthood by the King.