Probe Into Muckamore Abuse Claims

Alleged sex abuse at Muckamore Abbey Hospital more than 25 years ago is being investigated by police and health officials, it has emerged.

The Belfast Telegraph has uncovered allegations that patients, both adults and children, were involved in and were victims of sex abuse from 1960 to 1982.

It is understood inquiries began after a former patient said he was abused by an older male patient in the 1970s. The hospital near Antrim looks after people with learning disabilities.

A recent BBC investigation disclosed that more than 100 adults and 17 children with learning disabilities were living in hospital unneccesarily. It found people with severe learning disabilities were being kept in hospital as there was no money to care for them in the community.

The revelations prompted Health Minister Paul Goggins to announce a £3m action plan, promising that no child with a learning disability would be living in hospital in two years’ time.