Pints on you Chris

[Donagh]

From the BBC


£26m bank robbery trial collapses


The trial has collapsed of the only man charged with the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in December 2004.

Chris Ward, 26, denied facilitating the massive cash robbery at the Northern's Belfast headquarters.

He had also faced charges of robbing the bank and two further charges of falsely imprisoning bank colleague Kevin McMullan and his wife Karyn.

The judge said: "Given the decision to present no further evidence, I could not arrive at any other verdict."

The trial at Belfast Crown Court began on 9 September.

[Doogie Browser]

Disgrace it ever went to trial, peelers balls up yet again as they do their best to frame anyone.  From day one we all knew there was no actual evidence on him.

Wonder how much the trial cost?

[Minder]

I would say the people of Poleglass will all take a day off work to celebrate..........

[Donagh]

Disgrace it ever went to trial, peelers balls up yet again as they do their best to frame anyone.  From day one we all knew there was no actual evidence on him.

Wonder how much the trial cost?

Agreed. I hope he takes the wa*kers (RUC and NB) to the cleaners for malicious prosecution and unfair dismissal.

Would they have brought the case against him if he wasn't from Poleglass? I doubt it somehow...

[saffron sam2]

I have spoken to many people who know Chris Ward very well and their opinion of him was always consistent. They all felt there was absolutely no way he would have been involved in the robbery.

[Lecale2]

Pints on the house in Casement on Sunday!

[Donagh]

Pints on the house in Casement on Sunday!

Tomorrow night after the junior final I hope

[Doogie Browser]

Disgrace it ever went to trial, peelers balls up yet again as they do their best to frame anyone.  From day one we all knew there was no actual evidence on him.

Wonder how much the trial cost?

Agreed. I hope he takes the wa*kers (RUC and NB) to the cleaners for malicious prosecution and unfair dismissal.

Would they have brought the case against him if he wasn't from Poleglass? I doubt it somehow...

Probably not, thought he and his family conducted themselves impeccably throughout the trial and they can hold their heads high today.
The PPS over here are forever bringing high profile cases to court with no chance of a conviction,  anyone following this trial could never have doubted he would be found not guilty.  Delighted for him and his family.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Glad this has finally been kicked out - Chris was made a patsy by the PPS and the peelers and they should be made to pay, hope he cleans them out.
Met him on the way to a Celtic match last season, was nice bloke, all he was interested in was talking about the Bhoys.
Unfortunately he will now have feck all chance of ever getting a decent job again.  

[Donagh]

Met him on the way to a Celtic match last season, was nice bloke, all he was interested in was talking about the Bhoys.

Probably thought you were Special Branch Gwee...

[Doogie Browser]

Met him on the way to a Celtic match last season, was nice bloke, all he was interested in was talking about the Bhoys.

Probably thought you were Special Branch Gwee...

Stranger things have happened 

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Met him on the way to a Celtic match last season, was nice bloke, all he was interested in was talking about the Bhoys.

Probably thought you were Special Branch Gwee...

Stranger things have happened 

Cunny Funts, what I meant to say was that we didn't bother even talking about the case!

Anyone know if he will have recourse to sue, and if so who?

[Minder]

Im sure, being from Poleglass, he will exhaust all avenues of compensation.

[orangeman]

£26m bank robbery trial collapses 

Chris Ward's solicitor, Niall Murphy, gives a statement outside court
The trial has collapsed of the only man charged with the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in December 2004.

Chris Ward, 26, was cleared of facilitating the massive cash robbery at the Northern's Belfast headquarters.

The judge said: "Given the decision to present no further evidence, I could not arrive at any other verdict."

His defence lawyer claimed: "The mere fact he was a Catholic and charged with this offence was enough to seal his guilt in the eyes of some people."

Niall Murphy added: "This Kafka-esque farce started from the premise that Chris Ward was guilty and worked backwards, rather than commencing with the evidence and working forwards."

Speaking outside Belfast Crown Court, he said Mr Ward had been denied the presumption of innocence from the beginning.

"He should have appeared at this court today as a witness for the prosecution, instead he found himself in the dock for a crime he did not commit and of which he remains a victim," he said.

Mr Ward was also cleared of robbing the bank and two further charges of falsely imprisoning bank colleague Kevin McMullan and his wife Karyn.



Having considered the remaining evidence and the advice of counsel... it has been concluded that it would not be proper to make further submissions



Gordon Kerr
Prosecuting barrister
Audacious raid blamed on IRA


The trial at Belfast Crown Court began on 9 September and lasted four weeks.

The prosecution's case against Mr Ward, of Colinmill, Poleglass, was based on circumstantial evidence.

The gang that robbed the bank had such detailed knowledge about its security procedures that detectives believed they had an inside man.

Mr Ward's family was one of those taken hostage by the gang, but police believed the 26-year-old had been a willing accomplice.

A key part of the prosecution case was a claim Mr Ward had made a last-minute change to the work rota to ensure he was on duty to facilitate the robbery.

However, during the trial it emerged that dozens of people could have known the identities of keyholders who had access to the bullion room where the money was stored.

On Thursday, prosecution counsel Gordon Kerr QC said the case had been brought before the court based on circumstantial evidence.

"An essential strand related to the circumstances in which the defendant came to be on the rota of the late shift of the Northern Bank on the day of the robbery.

"(It was) fundamental in the case to the prosecution inviting the court to draw inference from other parts of the case."

He added that differences had arisen during the trial around the rota which prompted the rethink.

"Having considered the remaining evidence and the advice of counsel... it has been concluded that it would not be proper to make further submissions."

[Doogie Browser]

Im sure, being from Poleglass, he will exhaust all avenues of compensation.

Don't be such a snob Minder, that is a sweeping generalisation