Those behind the £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery were prepared to use the tactics of terrorism against innocent people whether they came from an organisation, a criminal gang or both, the judge hearing the case in Belfast said today.
Mr Justice McLaughlin spoke out as key witness - banker Kevin McMullan who was forced to facilitate the Belfast robbery in December 2004 after his wife was abducted - completed six gruelling days in the witness box giving evidence and being cross-examined.
The judge said Mr McMullan and his wife Kyran, who gave evidence before him, deserved the gratitude of the public.
Mr McMullan admitted that going back through the ordeal the couple suffered nearly four years ago, at the trial of former bank colleague Chris Ward had been hard to deal with.
Mr Ward, who the prosecution claim was the “inside man”, denies the robbery charge.
The 26-year-old from Colinmill, Poleglass, on the outskirts of west Belfast also denies two charges of abducting Mr McMullan and his wife Kyran.
As Mr McMullan prepared to finally leave the witness box at Belfast Crown Court, he was asked how the robbery ordeal had affected his life and that of his wife’s.
“It has had a devastating effect on our lives," he said, adding:“The court process is one of those things that we have to accept has to happen - it’s not easy to deal with.”
Mr Justice McLaughlin told Mr McMullan the couple should be thanked for their contribution to the trial. He said: “I am quite sure the prospect of giving evidence is never a happy one, certainly not in these circumstances.
“The public are entitled to be grateful to you and your wife.”
The robbery had created “great public ferocity and great scandal”, said the judge, and it was important people knew what happened. Mr McMullan responded: “I certainly want the public to know what happened to my wife.”
The trial has heard that after their home at Loughinisland, Co Down, was taken over by men who gained entry by posing as police officers, Mrs McMullan was taken away and held in an unidentified house before her bound body was dumped in a forest.
She eventually managed to free herself and stumble to a house where she raised the alarm and was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia, cuts and bruises.
Throughout nearly 24 hours of separation, Mr McMullan was told to go to work as normal and if he did not do exactly as the kidnappers wanted and got the money out of the Northern Bank Cash Centre in Belfast’s Donegall Square, his wife would be murdered.
The police have claimed the robbery was the work of the IRA, but the judge said whether the gang were from an organisation, a criminal gang or both, what was clear was “that they were prepared to use the tactics of terrorism against innocent people”.
The trial continues.