Eight women who worked at Muckamore Abbey Hospital appeared at Antrim Magistrates Court in Ballymena on Tuesday. Their cases moved forward to Crown Court. The charges stem from incidents in 2017 involving mental health patients.

Prosecutors outlined charges of false imprisonment, neglect, and ill-treatment. The women are Lynsey Brown, 47, from Fairhill Crescent in Newtownabbey; Amy Dougan, 39, from Staffordstown Road in Randalstown; Jacqueline French, 59, from Red Row near Randalstown; Karen Frew, 63, from Muckamore Abbey; Helen McCrory, 61, from Avondale in Antrim town; Linda McKaigue, 57, from Radharc An Chairn near Maghera; Eileen Shivers, 68, from Creagh Road in Newbridge near Castledawson; and Kathleen Patricia White, 57, from Rockfield Heights in Connor village near Ballymena.

Defence lawyers received thousands of pages of documents from the prosecution. The court granted continuing bail to all eight accused.