Muckamore Abbey: Police Identify 1500 Crimes

Police have so far identified 1,500 crimes in the Muckamore Abbey investigation, it has emerged.

The incidents took place in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit over a six month period between 2017 and 2018.

Police are in the process of investigating allegations around the physical and mental abuse of patients, with twenty staff having been suspended since 2017.

According to Detective Chief Inspector Jill Diffe, the probe is the largest adult safeguarding case to ever be investigated in Northern Ireland, with 400 incidents being reviewed and approximately 1,500 crimes within them.

Hundreds of hours of CCTV footage is being reviewed by officers, concentrating on the physical abuse and neglect of patients.

The police chief provided the details while speaking to the Irish News.

South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw has called for a full public inquiry following the revelation.

The Alliance representative said there is assurance needed that patients not requiring in-patient care will be moved out of the hospital within weeks.

"We can now see from the shocking scale of the issues arising at Muckamore Abbey Hospital it is important for the police investigation to be able to proceed," she commented. "We must be mindful the distress these revelations will have caused to the patients and their families, and they will need support as a priority during this stressful period."

Ms Bradshaw urged the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health to implement a resettlement process to other residential settings for patients not requiring in-patient care by December of this year.

"The sheer scale of the abuse and criminal activity recorded will understandably shake public confidence not just in this facility, but in residential health and social care provision more generally," she continued. "It should be emphasised thousands of people work tirelessly across health and social care in Northern Ireland to provide first-class care, including at Muckamore, but what has been revealed by the police investigation has been nothing short of appalling.

"Therefore there can now be no question a full public inquiry is required urgently, called for by the Secretary of State if necessary."

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein said the investigation must be "thorough and robust" as the sheer scale of wrongdoing is brought to light.

Colm Gildernew said today: "Given the shocking scale of these findings, it's important the PSNI pursue all lines of inquiry as a part of the investigation.

"This is the largest investigation into adult safeguarding that the PSNI have ever had to undertake.

"It is important for affected patients and their families we get to the truth of what happened but it is also vital in ensuring it is not allowed to happen again."



(JG/MH)