'Professional gang' behind raid

A car found in a County Down forest which belonged to woman hostage

The robbery of £22m from a Belfast bank was carried out by professional criminals who had "clearly done their homework", police have said.

Detectives said the possible involvement of paramilitaries was a "key line of inquiry".

A female hostage held during the raid raised the alarm after scrambling through a forest, the BBC has learned.

The raid at the Northern Bank's Belfast headquarters is thought to be one of the biggest UK cash robberies.

At least 10 robbers stole millions from the vaults of the bank in Donegall Square West on Monday as the families of two bank officials - one at Downpatrick, County Down, and the other at Poleglass near Lisburn - were held hostage.

The bank officials are Kevin McMullan from Downpatrick and Chris Warde from Colinmill in Poleglass.

THE £22M RAID £12m in new Northern Bank £100 and £20 notes were taken £5m of assorted used NI banknotes were taken £1.15m of new Northern Bank £100 and £50 notes were among the stolen cash Four people were held hostage at a house in Poleglass on the outskirts of west Belfast Two people were held in County Down A woman was held blindfolded for more than 24 hours 45 detectives are working on the case Bank raids: the human factor

Detectives said they soon expected to know the serial numbers of most of the stolen money.

Senior investigating officer Andy Sproule said: "It was a carefully planned operation by professional criminals who had done their homework."

The detective superintendent appealed for help in tracing a "distinctive" white box van which had been used to load the cash from the Wellington Street entrance on two occasions.

The van was so unusual that police had so far been unable to find a similar one to put on display, said the officer.

Detectives were actively looking at previous incidents where gangs had been involved and the mode of operation.

It is understood the police are looking at a number of possibilities of who was responsible for the robbery.

These are believed to include two non-paramilitary gangs and three teams attached to paramilitary groups - the IRA, the INLA and the UDA.

The BBC has learned that the female hostage - Kevin McMullan's wife Karen -wearing blue overalls and soaking wet trainers, made her way to a house near Drumkeeragh Forest Park at about 2200 GMT on Monday.

She was in a distressed state, but was reluctant to tell the male householder too much about the incident as she was concerned about her husband. However, she said she had been a hostage in a bank robbery.

There are reports that she was suffering from exposure as a result of her ordeal.

As the investigation continues, the police are examining the woman's car which was found burned on Tuesday at Drumkeeragh Forest Park, between Castlewellan and Ballynahinch.

Timeline: How the robbery was carried out

At a news conference on Wednesday, police said the amount stolen in the raid was about £22m.

The building at the centre of the robbery houses the bank's cash centre, where tens of millions of pounds were believed to have been stored.

The National Australia Bank, which owns the Northern Bank, said the robbery would have no knock-on effect for the sale of the Northern to the Danish Danske Bank Group announced earlier this month.

In a statement, the bank said: "The theft is covered by self-insurance, and as such, National Australia Bank will bear the impact of any losses arising from the theft."

The bank said customers would not be affected.

The Northern Bank has 95 branches and 30% of the market in Northern Ireland.