Amir Khan told a court today how scared he was as he stared down the barrel of a gun before having his $A129,000 watch stolen.
The former boxing champion, 36, told how he was pushed, fell back on the car and saw the gun being pointed about a foot away from his face, The Sun reports.
The masked gunman then allegedly told him: “Take off the watch.”
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Boxing champ Khan, wearing a pinstripe suit, told Snaresbrook Crown Court he heard wife Faryal, 31, “screaming and crying” during the incident, which was over in seconds.
And he revealed how it was “totally different” to the tough situations he has been put in when fighting someone in the ring.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a gun in my face. It put me in shock straight away,” he said.
“I didn’t want to look at the gun. I looked away. I literally saw into the barrel.
“I was really scared. I’ve got three kids. My wife was next to me. I was really really scared.
“I’m a sportsman, a fighter. I’ve always been put in the toughest situations when I go into the ring and fight someone. This was totally different. Very very scary.”
Asked how close the robber was to him, Khan said: “Very close. He was really close.
“I remember the gun – a foot from my face. I remember looking right into the barrel there, looking into the gun barrel.”
The incident happened moments after he left the Sahara Grill with his wife in Leyton, East London, last April.
Khan crossed the road and saw a man running towards him, initially thinking someone was messing about or playing a prank.
He said he didn’t know what the gunman wanted originally but it then hit him that he was after the watch. Khan took it off straight away and handed it to him.
He told the jury: “I still didn’t look at him. I looked down and handed it over. Handed him the watch.
“When someone puts a gun to your face you think he’s going to shoot. I looked away and handed it over.
“I saw them run off. That’s when people ran across to see what’s happening.
“I could hear my wife screaming and crying. I looked around to see if she was OK. I went to Faryal.”
He said he “didn’t want to be there” because it was getting busy but had to wait for the police to arrive to give them his statements.
But he did say he felt more comfort when people ran over to him, adding: “During the incident I was on my own. When I went to my wife and saw people I felt a little safer.”
He told the court that his rose-gold diamond encrusted watch, estimated to be worth £71,000, was given to him after he won a boxing fight.
Friend of eight years Omar Khalid, who had dined with the Khans, had gone ahead to get the car.
He told the court: “There were two guys walking towards the car. Amir was next to the car.
“When I looked I thought they might be fans speaking to him, but I felt someone had been thudded into the car.
“I looked towards the passenger window, and saw one of them had a gun.
“I froze and thought, ‘What do I do here?’. He was an arms’ length away from Amir.
“He had the gun to Khan’s head or face. I decided to get out of the car, and as soon as I got out of the car the gun was pointed towards me. It was a black handgun.
“They were just walking off and got into the Mercedes.
“It lasted, from when I first saw them to when it finished, it was about 30 seconds to a minute.”
Defendants Ahmed Bana and Nural Amin, both 25, and Ismail Mohamed, 24, deny conspiracy to commit robbery. Bana also denies having an imitation firearm.
Dante Campbell, 21, has previously admitted being the gunman during the hold-up in April.
Hamza Kulane, said to be involved as one of three ‘spotters’, has not been traced.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
