Men Accused Of Bus Tycoon Family Abduction And Robbery

Two men were remanded in custody after being accused of abducting members of the Gloag family at knifepoint and stealing over £200,000 worth of jewellery and cash from them. Brian Martin, 57, and Christopher McMultan, 40, are both alleged to have stormed into the family home before ordering them to the floor and binding their wrists and feet with tape. It is alleged the duo held a knife at the throat of Sarah Gloag - daughter-in-law and step-daughter of Stagecoach supremo Ann Gloag - and abducted her and her husband Sundeep Salins. The duo are alleged to have also tied and bound two children, aged 15 and nine, who were in the couple's home at Kinfauns House near Perth, on 19 January. Martin, Viewlands Place, Errol, and McMultan, Sidlaw Terrace, Glencarse, appeared in private at Perth Sheriff Court yesterday to face a four charge petition before Sheriff Lindsay Foulis. The first charge alleges that on 18 January both men wore masks and attacked and abducted David Gilfoyle and Joanne Miles at their home in Drummond Street, Muthill, Perthshire. They are accused of ordering the couple to lie face down on the floor, binding their wrists and feet with tape and detaining them against their will. Martin and McMultan are alleged to have pushed past Ms Miles to gain entry, presented knives at the couple, held a knife at Mr Gilfoyle's throat and demand entry to the Post Office below their home. They are alleged to have shouted, swore, repeatedly demand money and threatened them with violence before robbing them of a wallet and its contents. The second charge alleges that the following day the same men turned up at Sarah Gloag's home and attacked the occupants after pushing past her to get in while wearing masks. The charge alleges they ordered the couple and two children to lie face down on the floor with their wrists and feet taped and detained them against their will. It is alleged they also held a knife to Sarah Gloag's throat and robbed them of jewellery worth £200,000 and £4,000. On 20 January, they are alleged to have tried to pervert the course of justice by throwing stolen jewellery out of a Nissan Qashqai car on the A92 Dundee to Glenrothes road. It is alleged they threw the jewellery out of the moving vehicle because they knew it was stolen and they were attempting to avoid detection and prosecution. Martin also faces the fourth charge of driving dangerously on the same road near the Logie turn-off by reversing into a marked police vehicle and driving towards a police officer.

It is alleged the officer had to take evasive action to avoid being struck. Both men appeared briefly in private and made no plea or declaration. They were both remanded in custody and the case was continued for further examination. Sarah Gloag, 39, is both Ann Gloag's daughter-in-law and her step-daughter. She is the daughter of David McLeary, who married Mrs Gloag several years ago. Sarah was previously married to Mrs Gloag's son Jonathan, who took his own life in September 1999 at the age of 28. She has since remarried to architect Sundeep Salins, who formerly worked for Perth and Kinross Council. More recently he opened a coffee shop in Perth and the couple live in a detached £600,000 home in the shadow of Mrs Gloag's sprawling estate at Kinfauns Castle. Businesswoman and charity campaigner Mrs Gloag, 72, is a former nurse who, using her father's redundancy money, started the Stagecoach Group in 1980 with her brother, Sir Brian Souter. The siblings made huge profits by capitalising on the deregulation of public transport and Stagecoach is now a global company with interests in trains, trams and ferries. In 2013, Mrs Gloag was No28 in the Sunday Times Rich List along with her brother. She was formerly Scotland's richest woman before being overtaken by Harry Potter author JK Rowling. She has lived in Kinfauns Castle since 2004 and won a ruling to prevent walkers getting access to her estate after a court was told she had fears over her family's security. Mr Salins originally hails from India where his parents operate a medical charity and he moved to Scotland in 1992 to study architecture at Dundee University.