Amir Khan says he feared his children would "would grow up without their dad" when he was held at gunpoint in a robbery for his expensive watch. Last year Khan and his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, were targeted by an armed robber as they left a restaurant in east London.
A trial held at east London's Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how Khan was forced to hand over his bespoke rose gold, diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch by gunman Dante Campbell, 20.
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The robbery took place on April 18 2022 and Khan told the court how the robber pointed a gun in his face and said: "Take off the watch."
Khan, 36, from Bolton, has also opened up about the terrifying ordeal to the Sun on Friday. Speaking to the paper he said: “In that moment, you think the worst … that the kids could be growing up without their dad, that Faryal would be raising them on her own.
“Your life flashes before your eyes. I leant my head to the right because I thought, if he is going to shoot me, he can shoot the side of my head. I don’t want to see the bullet coming.”
Gunman Campbell, of Hornsey, and getaway driver Ahmed Bana, 25, of Tottenham, both in north London, admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm during a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
They will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
At Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, Ismail Mohamed, 24, of Edmonton, and Nurul Amin, 25, of Harringay, both in north London, were unanimously acquitted by a jury of conspiracy to rob Mr Khan.
Prosecutors had claimed Mohamed and Amin acted as “spotters”, dining in the restaurant to keep track of Mr Khan’s movements and relay them by phone to Bana.
Mr Khan, who has been confirmed for the upcoming I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! all-stars ITV series in South Africa, told the Sun on Sunday: “It was the first time I’ve ever seen a gun in my life. I could see down the barrel.
“I remember looking back seeing where my wife was. She ran back on the road and screamed ‘help!’
“At the time, I didn’t know what he wanted. I thought maybe this is a prank. I just took off the watch, he grabbed it.”
He added: “People said after, ‘You should’ve fought them’. Are they stupid? I’ve got a family. It’s only a watch. My life means more to me.
“When you have kids, you have a priority to make sure they are looked after. I am the breadwinner for the family. If I was with the kids, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Maybe I would have panicked and tried to run.”
His wife reportedly added: “I thought we were going to die on the spot.”
Mr Khan said he had been shopping in the Knightsbridge area while his influencer wife was doing a photoshoot, before the couple ate dinner with his friend Omar Khalid, breaking their Ramadan fast.
The robbery, which lasted just seconds, happened after they left the restaurant.
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