Dunmurry Manor: Criminal inquiry into care home treatment

The police investigation was a "significant development", said the older people's commissioner

Police have started a criminal investigation into allegations about the care provided to residents at a Belfast care home.

It comes after the commissioner for older people found a catalogue of inhuman and degrading treatment at Dunmurry Manor, dating back to 2014.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it has been gathering evidence in recent months.

A relative of a former resident at the home said it was "a long time coming".

Police had been investigating a report of neglect at Dunmurry care home dating back to November 2016.

• Care home residents 'faced inhuman treatment'

Julieann McNally, from west Belfast, had complained to health officials in 2016 about the care her grandmother Annie McCourt received.

"It's been something we've been shouting about for two years now - it's a huge relief that we're actually at this point," she told the BBC's The Stephen Nolan Show.

She said she is due to meet detectives next week.

The older people's commissioner Eddie Lynch said the police inquiry was a "significant development".

He added: "My focus has been - right from the beginning - to ensure that older people in the care of the home received the best possible care."

In his investigation into the home, Mr Lynch found that many residents had spent "their last few months living in appalling circumstances".

The home is owned by Runwood Care Homes, a company based in England.