Man cleared of Northern Bank raid may sue

THE man cleared of one of Britain’s largest bank robberies may launch legal action after branding his failed prosecution a farce.

Police and prosecutors were accused of overseeing a fiasco after Chris Ward, 26, walked free almost four years after the £26.5m (€33.3m) Northern Bank heist in Belfast.

The bank employee’s family was held hostage in December 2004 while he was forced to go to the vaults and load huge sums of cash into the bandits’ van.