Charges 'linked' to bank robbery withdrawn

A man who appeared in court charged in connection with last year's £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery has had the charges against him withdrawn.

Peter Kelly, 30, from Drumboniff Road, Newry, had been charged with collecting and recording information likely to be of use to terrorists.

The charges related to his job as a BT technician seconded to the Department of Finance and Personnel at Stormont.

After the charges were withdrawn at Belfast Magistrates Court, Mr Kelly's solicitor, Niall Murphy, said there had been "no justification to link his client's name to the bank robbery".

"He was never charged with any offence in connection with the robbery," Mr Murphy said.

Mr Kelly was one of four men charged in connection with the heist. The other three were Martin McAliskey, 42, Dominic McEvoy, 23, and most recently 24-year-old Chris Ward.

Mr Ward appeared at Laganside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, and spoke only to confirm he understood the charges.

The court heard that when charged in connection with the incident, he had told police that he was being framed and that his friends were being hounded.

A detective told the court that he could connect Mr Ward to the charges, which are based on circumstantial evidence.

Police gathered evidence from surveillance of Mr Ward's home and from a holiday he took to the Canary Islands.

Mr Ward was remanded to appear by video link next month.

The £26.5 million robbery of the Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast on December 20, was blamed on the IRA.

(MB/SP)