Timing

In a development that will raise eyebrows about its delicate timing and/or its implications for the effectiveness of police work, prosecutors in Northern Ireland have dropped all proceedings (RTE, BBC) against two of three men charged in connection with the Northern Bank robbery from two years ago. The only man still being held -- on the "inside job" theory of the case, a former employee -- is still claiming that his involvement was entirely due to his family being held hostage during the robbery as opposed to the hostage-taking being a staged part of the robbery. There now seems to be no one around to contradict his version of events.