Man thought gunman was a 'joke'

Shamsuddin Mahmood was killed by a bullet to the head

A diner has told a murder trial he thought it was a joke when a masked man with a gun walked into a restaurant.

Donald Glue said he thought the weapon was a water pistol and that waiter Shamsuddin Mahmood was going to be sprayed in the face in Orkney.

Michael Ross, 29, denies murdering 26-year-old Mr Mahmood at the Mumutaz restaurant in Kirkwall in 1994.

Mr Ross, of Inverness, who was 15 at the time of the waiter's death, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The court heard Mr Mahmood - also known as Shamol - lay dying from a single gunshot seconds after the man walked in.

Mr Glue said: "The door opened and someone came in quite quickly. He stood by my seat, pulled up a gun quite quickly and meaningfully.

He immediately went out the door before the waiter had even fallen and he was gone Donald Glue Witness

"He came over and stood at our table and I think I said something like: 'What the hell are you doing?'

"I thought that it was some kind of joke - I thought that it was going to be a water pistol to be sprayed on the waiter's face. Unfortunately not."

Mr Glue also told the jury: "He had obviously had the gun in his hand when he came in. He held it about 2ft from the waiter's face and pulled the trigger.

"He immediately went out the door before the waiter had even fallen and he was gone."

Wearing balaclava

The court heard Mr Mahmood was lying on the floor still alive and someone took off their jacket and put it under his head.

His body was also covered with a jacket in an attempt to keep him warm.

Mr Glue added: "The side of his face was gone and my daughter Sarah was covered in what had been his face."

Mr Glue described the gunman as being athletic, and wearing a balaclava and a pair of sunglasses.

Mr Ross is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by changing his clothing and disposing of the weapon.

Alibi lodged

He is further charged with, while acting with others whose identities are unknown, committing a breach of the peace outside the Indian restaurant by shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and racist abuse.

The offence was allegedly committed between 3 May and 24 May 1994.

Mr Ross is also accused of committing a breach of the peace on 19 May that year in Papdale Woods, Kirkwall.

He denies all charges and has lodged a special defence of alibi claiming he was nowhere near the Indian restaurant or Kirkwall town centre, but was cycling in another part of Orkney.

The trial continues.