On Thursday, Mr Gerard Ward told Belfast Crown Court that his 26-year-old son would never have set his family up to be held captive in their own Colinmill home in Poleglass nor put his mother through such an ordeal.

His son Christopher denies the December 20 robbery four years ago and to kidnapping his bank boss Kevin McMullan and his wife Kyran.

Mr Ward snr described the men who held his family hostage for 24 hours and took away his son as "criminals, gangsters" who would stop at nothing and that he "just felt like a puppet to them".

He also rejected a suggestion that the family had "a cosy relationship" with their captives.

"That's completely wrong. It definitely wasn't relaxing - it was very, very frightening," he added.

At one stage Mr Ward broke down and wept as he recalled "trying to keep it together" for the sake of his "distraught" family.

Later he added, almost in a whisper, that his son Christopher would have known the "distress, the anguish and the heartbreak" his family were suffering at the hands of their captors.

Christopher Ward has pleaded 'not guilty' to a total of three charges.

The accused denies charges of robbing the bank in Belfast city centre and of imprisioning bank employee Kevin McMullan and his wife.

The robbery in 2004 was one of the biggest in British banking history and caused a furore in the political process.

PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde claimed the robbery was carried out by the IRA - which is still denied to this day by Sinn Fein.

The trial - expected to be lengthy - is being held under the Diplock system where the judge sits without a jury.