Tapas bar owner tied up during ‘terrifying robbery’

TWO men tied up a restaurant owner and robbed him of £30,000 in cash and a designer watch while their victim’s teenage daughter hid in the family home.

Jamie Shaw, 39, and his accomplice Darren Rooney, 29, raided the house of Gordon Craig in Largs, Ayrshire last August.

Mr Craig, 49, who owns the Tinto Tapas chain, was held up at gunpoint before the duo escaped with thousands of pounds in cash and his Rolex watch.

Detectives later discovered bundles of cash in Shaw’s house – as well as a card from one of Mr Craig’s restaurants.

It later emerged unemployed Shaw often ate at the Tinto Tapas in Glasgow’s Battlefield – and that Mr Craig would sometimes give him a drink “on the house”.

The pair are now behind bars after they were convicted of robbery at the High Court in Glasgow.

A judge told Shaw and Rooney – who will be sentenced next month - that the raid on August 24 last year must have been “terrifying” for Mr Craig and his daughter Candy.

The 18-year-old earlier told the court she was in her bedroom when she was awoken by her dog barking.

She said: “I heard my dad scream and yelling ‘get out the house’.

“Initially I thought I must be dreaming.”

Shaw and Rooney – wearing ski masks – had stormed into the house with one of them clutching a firearm.

As the teenager cowered in her room, she heard her father being asked how much money was in the house.

One of the pair screamed: “I am not f*****g kidding – show me the money or I will kill you.”