A MAN has gone on trial accused of tying up a takeaway owner at gunpoint and stealing more than £9,000.

Suat Demirci, 45, is charged with the armed robbery at USA Fried Chicken in Corn Street, Witney.

The owner of the takeaway, Malgil Bulent, was allegedly tied up and threatened with a handgun before £9,250 in cash was taken.

The incident is said to have occurred on August 10, 2009.

Demirci, who was living above the shop at the time but now lives in Alma Terrace, Selby, North Yorkshire, denies robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.

Describing the alleged incident, Mr Bulent told jurors at Oxford Crown Court yesterday he was in his room on the premises some time after midnight when Demirci entered.

He said: “He came back with a gun and pointed it at my head. I thought he was joking; maybe it’s a toy gun?”

Mr Bulent said Demirci was “nervous, angry and aggressive” and said the defendant then tied him up with tape around his wrists and mouth, and rope around his legs.

He said he was then tied to the bed before the money was taken.

The trial continues.