Twenty-five years on from the infamous kidnapping of the supermarket boss, Don Tidey still looks like a man you wouldn't want to mess with.

Now a sprightly 73, his military background stood to him during his 23-day ordeal in the Leitrim mountains where he was beaten, hooded and daily chained to a tree by his captors.

The silver-haired English gent, still sporting a moustache, recounted with startling accuracy his harrowing abduction in a booming voice to those assembled at the Special Criminal Court last week. The chairman of the Associated British Food Company, which owned Quinnsworth and Stewarts supermarkets, was a potentially lucrative target for republicans keen to make a quick buck. But no-one foresaw how the kidnapping would bring the entire country to a standstill and that his eventual rescue would result in the shooting dead of a solider and garda.

Everyone present was familiar with the story, but still sat riveted as it was retold by the former executive. Just one man sat listening impassively with a bored air as the court heard how a gunman posing as a garda told Tidey: "Don't you f*****g try to get away or I'll blow your f*****g brains out," before forcing the unsuspecting businessman out of his car in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin and into a getaway vehicle. The indifferent man was the one sitting in the dock. Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane (56), a father-of-three from Jamaica Street in Belfast, has pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning Tidey on dates unknown between 24 November and 16 December 1983. He also denied possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life at Derrada Wood, Drumcronan, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, between 25 November and 16 December 1983, and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose between the same dates.

Sharply dressed and apparently unfazed by the serious charges laid against him, McFarlane arrived in court accompanied by Dublin Sinn Féin councillor Larry O'Toole on Thursday and was greeted with an enthusiastic hug by a supporter.

Tidey's kidnapping proved a pivotal moment in how the republican movement was viewed in Ireland.

It started out like any other working day for Tidey. He left his home with his 13-year-old daughter in the car and planned to drop her off to school before heading to work. But within minutes of being stopped by a supposed garda, he was forced into another vehicle by armed men, one of whom had pistol-whipped him, causing mild concussion. Another fractured his ribs.

He was hooded for most of his 23-day nightmare, and survived on bread and jam with the occasional cup of tea or soup from his captors. After a number of days he was washed when bog water was thrown over his head. He remembered his military training, endured interrogation and avoided communication until he was eventually rescued.

He told the court he was unable to identify any of his captors since his head had been covered throughout the ordeal. The evidence linking McFarlane to the case is based on forensics at the site in the Ballinamore woods where Tidey was held hostage.

On the day before his rescue, Tidey's hood was removed, replaced with a balaclava, and his legs unchained. He was informed that the security forces were closing in on them and his captors set off on foot to escape with Tidey positioned between them. "There was a burst of gunfire, then more gunfire, and frankly from that moment on it became a battleground," he said. "Once firing had broken out, everybody made their own arrangements. My arrangement under fire was to hit the ground, which I did. I rolled down an incline into bracken and took in my circumstances... When I looked up I was looking into the muzzle of a weapon just a short distance from my forehead. The situation froze. I looked along the length of the barrel and saw a soldier." He learned later that the soldier and garda thought he was going for a gun. "By the grace of God he didn't pull the trigger."

The trial continues.