What was the Northern Bank robbery and who was behind the heist?
THE Northern Bank robbery was one the biggest and most high-profile heists in UK history, where top level personnel executed a raid, escaping with 26.5million in cash. The heist took place in Belfast way back in 2004 and still to this day, almost 17 years later, the mystery of the Northern Bank robbery remains unsolved despite a huge international police investigation. 3 The scene at the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast where a gang stole 26.5million. Credit: PA:Press Association  3 Police taped off the side of the Northern Bank main branch on Wellington street, Belfast. In a highly sophisticated operation which happened just days before Christmas in December 2004, a gang of three masked men held two families hostage at gunpoint, including two Northern Bank cash clerks. The gang held the worker's siblings, girlfriends and parents hostage for 24 hours whilst the two key-holders who had access to the cash vault in the banks basement were forced to go to work under specific instructions. At 6 pm, when all the bank employees went home, Chris Ward and Kevin McMullan, who were both key-holders, stayed back to let the gang members into the bank. Shortly after 6pm, Ward was made to leave the bank with a sports bag filled with 1.2 million in cash. Just around the corner, a getaway vehicle was parked, where Ward the cash-filled sports bag to one of the gang members before returning to the vault. From then on, the gang had uninterrupted access to the bank, where they packed as much money as possible, in what amounted to 26.5million in cash. The stolen money consisted mostly of uncirculated Northern Bank notes but also included 8.85 million Pounds Sterling worth of used notes, and over a million Pounds in other currencies such as US Dollars and Euros. Key questions such as to who sanctioned the robbery and who was involved in the heist itself remain a mystery. However, a year after the raid in January 2005, Chief Constable Hugh Orde of the Police Service of Northern Ireland announced at a news conference in Belfast that the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was responsible for the raid. Orde added that all the main lines into the enquiry led to the direction of the IRA, although the party itself denied any involvement in the Northern Bank robbery. Within days a team of 50 detectives were involved in one of the biggest criminal investigations in history. During the investigation, it was revealed that Northern Bank had made no record of the serial numbers of 900,000 worth of the new 100 notes and 250,000 of new 50 notes that were stolen in the raid. In a bid to prevent the gang using all their stolen cash, Northern Bank decided to withdraw its banknotes and re-issue them in a different colour, thus eventually making the old currency invalid. On 14 March 2005, in a major security operation, 240 million worth of Northern Bank notes were replaced. We are continually told from tribes of experts, including the FBI that the Northern Bank robbery was an inside job. Ironically though, one of the hostages who was involved in helping the gang, Chris Ward, was taken to court on suspicion of being involved in the heist himself. 3 Chris Ward was accused of being involved in the Northern Bank robbery. Credit: PA:Press Association  However, Ward was cleared of any involvement in the theft in central Belfast and was found not guilty. To date, there have been 10 people arrested and three charged in connection with the robbery. With the charges against Ward now dropped, no one has yet been brought to justice. It is believed former IRA mastermind Bobby Storey was involved in the robbery after security sources linked him to several major incidents - although no evidence could confirm any accusations. Storey spent a total 20 years in prison, beginning with internment without trial when he was 17 before he joined the IRA in 1972. He was also sentenced to a further 18 years for possession of firearms following an attack on the army. However, Storey died on June 21 last year after an unsuccessful lung transplant in a National Health Service hospital in England.