The Irish News scooped its rivals by carrying the first newspaper
interview with a man at the centre of the UK’s biggest-ever bank
robbery. Chris Ward, the Northern Bank official who was forced at
gunpoint to take part in the £26million raid, told reporter Barry
McCaffrey how the gang tricked their way into his home and threatened
his family. Ward revealed that he carried out a dummy run, bringing out
a sports bag packed with over £1million in cash, before cleaning out
the vaults of the bank with a colleague, whose wife had earlier been
kidnapped. Noel Doran, editor of the Belfast-based morning paper, said:
“It was a good old-fashioned exclusive, based on hard work and first
class contacts, and his report has made a major impact.”
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