Employee ‘manipulated rota’ to facilitate Northern Bank heist
Chris Ward, 24, one of two staff members taken hostage during the heist last December, denied the charge when he appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court.
Detective Inspector Sean Wright told the court the case against him was based on circumstantial evidence collected as a result of surveillance.
But Ward, of Colinmill, Poleglass, West Belfast, accused police of bugging him at home and abroad in a bid to frame him.
Ward was questioned for eight days, during which around 50 interviews were carried out.
Soon after the raid, Ward gave a TV interview in which he spoke of his ordeal.
Gunmen took over his home and warned he and his family would be killed if he did not cooperate, he said at the time.
The court heard the case against him was based on four main areas: his actions on December 18 and 19; his actions on December 20, the day of the raid; his original account of what happened; and a work rota.
Ward’s statement of denial was read in court.
He said: “Police have bugged my house, a holiday in Spain, went through my phone records, my bank accounts, hounded my friends, even going as far as Australia, and have tortured my family in an attempt to frame me with the Northern Bank robbery.”
In his TV interview, Ward said he was bundled into a car at gunpoint and driven to the home of his supervisor, Kevin McMullan, in Co Down, where the pair were ordered to go to work as normal the next day while their families were held hostage.
During the heist, Ward said he was ordered to stuff £1.2m (€1.77m) in notes into a bag and carry it from the bank in a dummy run.
During cross examination by defence solicitor Niall Murphy, Det Insp Wright accepted Ward had no criminal record.
Mr Murphy also said: “Regarding the rota, the police case is my client manipulated the rota to create a window of opportunity.
“The rota my client created on the 16th had neither my client nor Kevin McMullan on duty the day of the robbery.”
Mr Murphy said he would be applying for high court bail.
Ward was remanded in custody to appear again on January 4.
