A Turkish waiter convicted of armed robbery at a house in the Highlands has been jailed for almost seven years.
Ali Akguc carried out the raid while his boss’s wife Lisa Cetiner was in their Drumnadrochit home with two children.
The youngsters feared they were going to die as the crazed 36-year-old repeatedly threatened to shoot them on the night of December 6, 2015.
Akguc fled in his Volkswagen Passat after grabbing cash – but was snared because the car had earlier been spotted near Mrs Cetiner’s Highland home.
The Turkish national, who had been working in her husband Kenan Cetiner’s restaurant since April 2015, was found guilty of armed robbery after trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.
Yesterday he was jailed for six years and seven months at the High Court in Glasgow – and he also faces being deported after serving his time.
Lord Burns described it as a “particularly disturbing incident” where Mrs Cetiner and the children were subjected to “a terrifying ordeal”.
Last night, Detective Chief Inspector Michael Sutherland said: “This was a frightening ordeal for Akguc’s victims and an understandably distressing incident for the wider community of Drumnadrochit.
“Violent offences such as this will not be tolerated in the Highlands or elsewhere; Police Scotland remains committed to tackling violent crime in all its forms and will always carry out a thorough investigation to ensure offenders face the consequences of their deplorable actions.”
Mrs Cetiner was targeted at her home in Drumnadrochit while her husband was away.
She answered her door late at night and the masked robber barged in.
Akguc demanded cash while ordering the petrified youngsters to sit on the floor.
Recalling their ordeal, the Mrs Cetiner, 48, said: “When I was through getting the money, I could hear one of the children shouting at the man: ‘do not kill me’.”
She eventually handed the raider more than £1,400.
He then threatened: “Do not scream or I will come back and shoot you.”
Mrs Cetiner said she recognised Akguc as someone employed by her husband at his restaurant, The Moorings, in Fort Augustus in the Highlands.
Throughout the trial, the court heard Akguc had been hired to work in the restaurant over the summer, but had asked if he could stay on until the end of November, when he knew Mr Cetiner would be in Turkey.
Giving evidence on his own behalf, he said that on the day of the robbery, he had planned to leave the Highlands and head to London to be with his wife and two children.
He added he did not leave for London until later that night, because he had loaned his car to one of his co-workers during the day.
But the court heard that the silver Volkswagen Passat had been spotted on several occasions in and around the area where the couple lived – and one witness told the court they had seen the man who carried out the robbery in the car that day.
The court also heard that phone records had placed Akguc’s mobile in the area close to the robbery throughout the day. He claimed he mistakenly left his phone in his car when his colleague was using it.
Akguc also told jurors that he left for London at about 8pm and claimed that, by the time the robbery occurred, just before 11pm, he would have been in Perth. However, his phone was detected in the Highlands at 10.10pm.
A jury of 11 men and four women took just 15 minutes to find him guilty by majority.
Yesterday Akguc’s lawyer Tony Lenehan said: “His insistence on innocence is maintained.”