A security van driver allowed a gang to steal almost £180,000 because he feared he and his parents' lives were in danger, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
It is alleged Mark Rees, working for cash-intransit firm Loomis, made up a story about being kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint so he could have the money.
Rees, 40, of Walmley Close, Solihull, who has denied theft, said on June 19 he returned home at midnight and was about to go into his flat when he was approached by a man with a gun.
He said he thought he was being robbed. The gunman said he wanted money from his van, that he knew who he worked for and where his parents lived.
Rees said the man told him he wanted the money dropped off on a particular day and he would be met on the road. He said he was told if anything went wrong he would get a bullet. Rees said he had been given training about what to do but went on: "Everything went out of my head. I was nervous, scared and frightened.''
He said he later decided to go along with what he had been told. Rees said he had not thought about what he was going to say to Loomis.
The court heard he had gone out in the van two days later and made pick-ups and deliveries before a Rover drove past his vehicle and a man wearing a balaclava signalled he should turn left.
Andrew Tucker, prosecuting, said Rees's van ended up near a farm in Wishshaw and the driver, whose hands had been tied, told the farmer he had been robbed at gunpoint. However, he said, police later discovered evidence to contradict Rees's account. The trial continues.
