Amir Khan: Staring down a gun is scarier than boxing
Former world boxing champion Amir Khan told how staring down the barrel of a gun as he was robbed of his £70,000 watch was more terrifying than any fight.
‘I am a sportsman, a fighter. I have been put in the toughest situations but this is something different, this is really really scary,’ the 36-year-old told a court.
‘When he put the gun to 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.’
The 2004 Olympics silver medallist told how he was forced to hand over his bespoke, rose gold, diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch – a gift after a boxing win and worth £60,000-£70,000.
He said he had been shopping in the Knightsbridge area while his ‘influencer’ wife Faryal Makhdoom was doing a photoshoot, before the couple ate dinner with his friend Omar Khalid in Leyton, east London, last April.
‘I spent about an hour in the restaurant. Everything seemed nice and calm. I was taking pictures with fans,’ he told jurors.
‘I put my hand on the door handle (of the car) and someone ran towards me and pushed me towards the car and I fell back on the car.
‘Next thing, I saw a gun being pointed at my face. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a gun in my face and obviously in the UK. I had to look away.
‘When the gun was put to my face I literally saw down the barrel. I felt really scared. I have three kids. My wife is next to me as well. I was really scared.’
The retired boxer, who now lives in Dubai, said when the gunman said to ‘take off your watch’ he did so straight away – because the barrel of the gun was only around a foot from his face.
He said: ‘After the watch was given to them, I see them run off and that’s when a couple of people ran across from the restaurant to see what was happening. I could see my wife screaming and crying.’
He said he comforted her but then had wanted to leave as he didn’t want to be a victim.
But he said an onlooker had called police and he thought: ‘I can’t leave now.’
Londoner Dante Campbell, 21, has admitted conspiracy to rob and possession of an imitation firearm. Ahmed Bana and Nurul Amin, 25, and Ismail Mohammed, 24, all from London, deny conspiracy to rob and Bana also denies the imitation gun charge.
The trial at Snaresbrook crown court trial continues.
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