PSNI gets two more days to question bank employee
Police in the North have been granted two more days to question a 24-year-old staff member arrested last week in connection with the €26.5m Northern Bank robbery.
Chris Ward, who was one of two bank officials held hostage during last December's heist, was arrested last Tuesday and has been in custody ever since.
Mr Ward gave media interviews shortly after the raid describing how his home was taken over by a gang of gunmen who threatened to kill him and his family if he did not cooperate.
The PSNI has now been granted three extensions to his period in custody, prompting a legal challenge from his lawyers.
In an emergency hearing in the early hours of this morning, they secured leave to seek a judicial review of the circumstances surrounding his detention.
The lawyers are due to seek his immediate release later today on the grounds that he is being held unlawfully.
Meanwhile, another man wanted in connection with the robbery has reportedly been arrested in the Australian city of Sydney on suspicion of immigration violations.
The man is believed to be a friend and former colleague of Mr Ward.
Reports this morning said he also had links with Casement Park GAA stadium in Belfast, which was searched last week by detectives investigating the Northern Bank raid.
