THE BANK manager whose wife was held hostage in the £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery has said he was very nervous of the men holding them.
Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court for the fifth day yesterday, Kevin McMullan described the gang as "very cold".
Under cross examination from defence QC Arthur Harvey, Mr McMullan confirmed the gang had told him he would have to be a "fantastic actor" during the robbery. "They told me I was going to have to be the boss, do anything it took to make this happen, that I would have to be a fantastic actor and anything they wanted me to do I would have to work around to make sure it happened."
In the dock denying the December 20th, 2004, robbery and two counts of falsely imprisoning Mr McMullan and his wife Karyn is his fellow bank employee Christopher Owen Ward (26) from Colinmill, Poleglass.
The bank manager confirmed that staff at the bank had been given a talk concerning the dangers of a "tiger kidnapping" such as "gratuitous assaults, locking persons away" and using other "extreme" measures to cause fear.
He agreed with Mr Harvey's suggestions that in fact he thought the manner of the lecture was "overboard and perhaps caused more fear". It was after they received this talk that alarms and panic buttons were installed into some staff members' homes, particularly "number one key holders" and that in his house there was a burglar alarm, with panic buttons in the kitchen and bedroom.
Mr McMullan agreed there was an intercom system at his home at the front door, adding that on the night before the robbery he should have used the intercom but he believed there was a police officer there.
The bank manager told Mr Harvey that both he and Mr Ward were briefed "more than once" by the gang about what was to happen and the plan was carried out according to their directions.
He said that after one such briefing when they had been left alone, he was concerned about his wife and Mr Ward "was making comments about his mum and dad and brother and kept saying do whatever they needed to do".
However, it transpired that although originally Mr McMullan and Mr Ward were to phone the gang on the hour, making alternate calls each, it was decided that in an effort not to arouse the suspicions of the security staff, that Mr Ward would make all of the calls.
Mr McMullan said Mr Ward told him the gang had decided he would not be making any more calls because mobile phone reception was such that he would have to go outside to get reception.