A waiter robbed his manager's wife and threatened to shoot her and her children during a raid on their home.

Ali Akguc carried out the raid in Drumnadrochit, near Loch Ness, when the woman was alone with her two young children.

The youngsters feared they were going to die after the 36-year-old threatened to shoot them.

Akguc stole more than £1400 and fled but was later caught because his car had been seen near the house.

He was jailed for six years and seven months at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday after being convicted of the December 2015 robbery.

Judge Lord Burns told him: "This was a particularly disturbing incident whereby you subjected [the woman] and her children to a terrifying ordeal in their own home."

Akguc, a Turkish national, faces being deported at the end of his sentence.

He barged into the house late at night and demanded cash while ordering her children to sit on the floor.

During his trial, the woman told the court: "When I was through getting the money, I could hear one of the children shouting at the man 'do not kill me'."

After being given the money he told her: "Do not scream or I will come back and shoot you."

The woman said she recognised Akguc as someone employed by her husband at his restaurant in the Highlands.

Akguc blamed the crime on a workmate who he claimed had borrowed his car.

During his trial the court heard he had been known to have money issues due to gambling.

His lawyer Tony Lenehan said: "His insistence on innocence is maintained."

Following the sentencing, Police Scotland detective inspector Michael Sutherland said: "This was a frightening ordeal for Akguc's victims and an understandably distressing incident for the wider community of Drumnadrochit."

"Violent offences such as this will not be tolerated in the Highlands or elsewhere. Police Scotland remains committed to tackling violent crime in all its forms and will always carry out a thorough investigation to ensure offenders face the consequences of their deplorable actions."