British officials feared ‘top man’ in Northern Bank robbery would avoid arrest

Some £26 million in cash stolen from the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 (Niall Carson/PA) - (PA Archive)

British officials feared the ‘top man’ behind the Northern Bank robbery in 2004 would be “clever enough to avoid getting arrested”.

They also agreed that the heist would not derail peace process efforts, which included the details of decommissioning, but added that “the republican movement had knocked up the price”.