DETECTIVES have made a further arrest in connection with the Muckamore Abbey Hospital abuse probe.
A 54-year-old woman was detained in the Antrim area yesterday morning in relation to alleged ill-treatment of vulnerable patients at the Co Antrim facility. It brings to 22 the number of people arrested in connection with the investigation.
To date, seven people have learned they are to be prosecuted for a range of offences linked to mistreatment of adult patients with severe learning disabilities at the regional hospital.
The case is the biggest criminal investigation of its kind in Northern Ireland with 1,500 suspected crimes discovered in one ward between April and September 2017.
More than 300,000 hours of CCTV footage from hospital wards are central to the police probe - with staff suspects not realising the cameras were recording.
Last month, The Irish News reported that 74 Muckamore employees - mainly nursing staff - have been suspended by the Belfast health trust as part of an ongoing disciplinary investigation into suspected abuse. Three employees have been sacked.
A public inquiry into the scandal was ordered by the health minister Robin Swann last September. A chair to oversee the inquiry has still to be appointed.
The Department of Health is expected to shortly announce a chair and the inquiry's terms of reference following a consultation with families of patients affected.
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