The trial has collapsed of the only man Madrid overturns terror verdicts ...
More cash is injected into banks ...
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Canadian Arctic sheds ice chunk ... charged with the Ј26.5m Northern Bank robbery in December 2004.
Chris Ward, 26, denied facilitating the massive cash robbery at the Northern's Belfast headquarters.
He had also faced charges of robbing the bank and two further charges of falsely imprisoning bank colleague Kevin McMullan and his wife Karyn.
The judge said: "Given the decision to present no further evidence, I could not arrive at any other verdict."
The trial at Belfast Crown Court began on 9 September and lasted four weeks.
The prosecution's case against Mr Ward, of Colinmill, Poleglass, was based on circumstantial evidence.
The gang that robbed the bank had such detailed knowledge about its security procedures that detectives believed they had an inside man.
Mr Ward's family was one of those taken hostage by the gang, but police believed the 26-year-old had been a willing accomplice.
During his four-week trial there was no mention of the IRA, no details of what happened to the money, and ultimately no evidence that Chris Ward had been part of the gang.
(BBC)
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