The west Belfast man accused of robbing the Northern Bank of £26.5m told police he was “bricking” himself when a gun was pointed at him in the back of a car while his family was being held hostage.

Christopher Owen Ward from Colinmill in Poleglass was employed as a supervisor with the bank when its headquarters at Donegall Square in Belfast was robbed on December 20, 2004.

Ward – whose family was held by a gang for a 24-hour period during which the robbery was carried out – was questioned by police at length in the days following the heist.

The 26-year-old told an officer that three men called at the family home on the evening of December 19. Ward said he was ordered by the men to pack his uniform into a sports bag before being led to a waiting car.

He said that after telling his family to co-operate with the intruders orders, he got into the waiting car and was told to lie in the back of the vehicle where the driver pointed a “small gun” at him.

In a recorded interview, played to Belfast Crown Court, Ward told a police officer: “He (the driver) pointed the gun at me and said ‘don’t f*** about’.

“He called me by my name. I was bricking myself. I just shut my eyes and turned my head towards the back seat. I just lay there and said nothing.”

Yesterday’s hearing marked the third day recorded police interviews with Ward have been played to court.

At one point, Mr Justice McLaughlin asked if the video could be fast-forwarded as he was finding it hard to stay awake.

Saying he was glad the case wasn’t being heard before a jury as it would be hard to keep 12 jurors from “drifting in to dreamland”, the judge added: “It’s about the most boring video I have ever watched.”

Ward has been charged with robbing the bank and of holding his boss Kevin McMullan and his wife Kyran hostage on a date between December 18 and 21, 2004.

He denies all three charges.

At hearing