After the gunpoint robbery of his £70,000 watch, Amir Khan worried that his kids would grow up “without their dad.”
On April 18, 2017, the 36-year-old former world boxing champion and his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, were being followed as they left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London.
A court heard gunman Dante Campbell, 20, forced Khan to hand over his bespoke, rose gold, diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch – a gift to him following a boxing match that was worth between £60,000 to £70,000.
Khan, a silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics, previously told the court the robber pointed a gun in his face and said: ‘Take off the watch.’
The Bolton-born boxer, who retired last year with a record of 34 wins from 40 fights, has now opened up about the ordeal.
‘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,’ he told the Sun.
‘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.’
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Khan, who has been confirmed for the upcoming I’m A Celebrity in South Africa, added: ‘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!”
Khan admitted that people told him he should have used his fighting skills against them.
But he said: ‘Are they stupid? I’ve got a family. It’s only a watch. My life means more to me.’
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.
They will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
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 Khan’s movements and relay them by phone to Bana.