A major inquiry into the abuse of vulnerable adults at Muckamore Abbey hospital, in Northern Ireland, has found “mistreatment became a normality” and patients suffered black eyes, broken bones and severe neglect.

The hospital is at the centre of the UK’s largest police investigation into the alleged abuse of vulnerable adults, with 124 people having been referred by police for prosecution.

Chaired by Tom Kark KC, the inquiry found that as well as physical abuse, residents were subjected to “neglect, poor care and a wider diminution of their rights”.

Kark said he heard evidence of patients receiving unexplained black eyes and broken bones, not being washed, with faeces under their fingernails or on their clothes, and becoming obese or losing weight dramatically owing to a lack of care over diet.

Other patients were over-medicated and described as being “zombified”.

The inquiry made 106 recommendations in response to the “profound catalogue of failures” at the hospital.

Starting in 2022, the inquiry heard oral evidence from 181 witnesses and received 333 statements, and investigators looked through more than 300,000 hours of CCTV footage from the hospital.

Run by the Belfast health and social care trust in County Antrim, the hospital has cared for adults with severe learning disabilities and mental health needs since 1949, and allegations of abuse first emerged in 2017 through CCTV footage.

More details soon …