Bank raid kidnap victims to go home

THE owners of two homes taken over by the gang behind last week’s £22 million bank raid in the North hope to return today, following a police forensic examination.

The houses belonging to 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 the McMullan family were forced 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 audacious robbery.