Search ends at hostages’ houses

POLICE yesterday ended forensic examinations in the two homes taken over by the gang behind last week’s £22 million (€30 million) bank heist in the North.

The homes of 24-year-old Chris Ward, in the Poleglass area of west Belfast, and Kevin McMullan, in Loughinisland, Co Down, have been preserved as crime scenes since last Monday when details of the raid on the vaults of the Northern Bank in Belfast city centre first emerged.

Mr Ward and Mr McMullan’s family have had to spend Christmas away from their homes while the houses were dusted down for clues about the gang who held them hostage and carried out the robbery.