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(Editorial, Irelandclick.com)

Chris Ward, the young bank worker caught up in the Northern Bank raid last December, has now been held by the PSNI for almost a week. His disgraceful treatment illustrates the increasing desperation of the PSNI as it hunts in vain for the robbers and the money.

Had there been clear evidence against Mr Ward, then he would have been charged within a day or two. Now it's clear that the PSNI are engaged in a fishing expedition, hoping that the increasing pressure that incarceration will impose on the young man will yield some information – a commodity that is in very short supply when it comes to this robbery investigation.

As if that's not bad enough, the PSNI have decided also to target people and places connected in any way to Mr Ward. So we've seen his young girlfriend arrested and released, we've seen raids at Casement Park, where he works part-time, and we've seen raids and arrests involving people who Mr Ward goes to football matches with or who he met on holiday.

Enough is enough. The shambolic PSNI investigation into the Northern Bank robbery is nothing more than we expect from a force which continues to know much about politics and militarism, but precious little about efficient, modern policing methods. It's hard to understand how we can be expected to call on young people to join the PSNI when that force prefers to hold our young people for long periods in interrogation centres. Those people who have been so grievously maligned through high-profile arrest and detention will take some persuading that the PSNI is a force to which we should offer our support and allegiance. And those politicians who offer the PSNI their support should not remain quiet in the face of this continued outrage.

This article appeared first on the Irelandclick.com web site on December 5, 2005.