Five in court on bank plot charge

Five men appeared in court in Belfast today charged with conspiring to imprison and rob a bank employee.

Three of the men were also charged with possession of a firearm with intent to commit a indictable offence.

William Mullan, 46, Jonathan Rossborough, 22, and Alan McClean, 36, all of Westlands Drive, north Belfast, together with William Seenan, of Alliance Road, and Stephen Douglas, 22, from Tyndale Green, also north Belfast, were charged with conspiring with others between November 11 and November 25 to imprison Witness A, an employee of First Trust Bank, and detain him against his will.

They all face a second charge of conspiring with others between the same dates to rob Witness A and that a firearm was used to commit the offence.

Douglas, Rossborough and Seenan were also charged with possession on November 25 of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

The men were charged following a major police operation in east Belfast last week.

They were remanded in custody at Belfast Magistrates Court to appear again via videolink on December 21.

A police inspector told the court during questioning by a solicitor for the five men that the charges were the result of police observations carried out in Belfast.

She said she believed she could connect all five men to the charges against them. When she charged them, they either denied guilt or remained silent, she told the court.

Defence solicitor Billy McNulty told the court all his clients would be denying the charges and applications for bail would be made later in the high court.

Several dozen supporters, including a number of leading loyalists, filled the public gallery during the men’s court appearance.

Banter between the men in the dock and the public gallery prompted the magistrate, Ken Nixon, to postpone the case for 20 minutes when it first started and he issued a warning that he would have the court cleared.

When the case resumed, it passed without incident but the defendants and their supporters again began talking and joking as they were led from the dock after being remanded.