14 March 2023 , 17:42
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Former world boxing champion Amir Khan said staring down the barrel of a gun as he was robbed of his £70,000 watch was scarier than any of his fights, a court heard.
The 36-year-old told jurors he feared the gunman would pull the trigger as the weapon was held “a foot from his face”.
The father-of-three said he handed over his bespoke diamond encrusted Franck Muller Vanguard Chronograph “straight away” during the armed robbery as he left a restaurant in Leyton, east London, with his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, and friend Omar Khalid on April 18 last year.
Giving evidence at Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist said: “When he put the gun in my face I literally saw in the barrel. I felt really scared.
“I have got three kids, my wife was next to me as well. I was really, really scared.
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“I am a sportsman, a father. I have always been put in tough situations when you are put in the ring to fight someone but this was totally different. This was very, very scary.”
Amir Khan arrives to give evidence in court (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
Robbers targeted the star for his bespoke Franck Muller Vanguard watch (Central News <[email protected]>)Mr Khan, who was a unified world champion at light-welterweight, said he had been shopping in the Knightsbridge area while his influencer wife was doing a photoshoot, before the couple went for dinner to break their Ramadan fast with a pal.
“I spent about an hour in the restaurant,” he said. “Everything seemed nice and calm. I was taking pictures with fans, meeting people, talking to people, so everything seemed cool.”
But as the couple left the restaurant, the gunman rushed at the boxer as he went to climb into a waiting car.
“It happened quite fast. I thought maybe it was someone messing about,” he added.
“He ran to me and pushed me towards the car, I fell back on the car and next I see a gun pointed in my face.
“It’s the first time I have ever seen a gun.”
The Bolton-born fighter, who retired last year with a professional record of 34 wins from his 40 fights, added: “When I had a gun put in my face I couldn’t recognise him because he had a mask on.
“I looked away because I didn’t want him to pull the trigger. I didn’t know what he wanted at first until he said take off your watch.
“I thought maybe it was a prank at first. I took it off straight away and gave it to him.
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“I still didn’t look at him. When someone puts a gun to your face I thought maybe he was going to shoot. So I just looked away and handed it to him.”
He said: “He was really close. It was about a foot from my face. I remember looking right into the barrel.”
The incident lasted “seconds”, he added, and left his wife “screaming and crying” in shock.
Prosecutor Philip Evans KC said the “carefully planned and executed robbery”, which was captured on CCTV played to jurors, was “over in seconds”.
The court heard the watch, a gift following a fight, was not insured after the cover had lapsed two weeks earlier.
Ismail Mohammed, 24, from Edmonton; Ahmed Bana, 25, from Tottenham; and Nurul Amin, 25, from Haringey; all north London, deny conspiracy to commit robbery.
Bana also denies possessing an imitation firearm.
Dante Campbell, from Hornsey, also north London, has previously admitted to being the gunman, the jury has been told.
The trial continues.