A 25-year-old man has admitted mid-trial to being the getaway driver in the gunpoint robbery of former world boxing champion Amir Khan.
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist, 36, was targeted by several men as he and his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, on 18 April 2022.
The boxer, a unified world champion at light-welterweight, was forced to hand over his bespoke rose gold diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch, worth between £60,000 and £70,000.
Ahmed Bana admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm midway through the trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Prosecutors said Bana was the driver of a silver Mercedes which dropped gunman Dante Campbell, 20, and another unknown robber at the scene before acting as the getaway car.
The jury was told that Campbell, from Hornsey, north London, had pleaded guilty.
Two other men – 24-year-old Ismail Mohamed and 25-year-old Nurul Amin – remain on trial.
Alleged murderer accused of killing man with hammer in cemetery had ‘deep interest’ in ‘extreme violence’, court hears
Man, 19, charged over drive-by shooting at funeral in central London
Youth sentenced to 10 years for killing Afghan refugee hours after leaving court for knife possession
Mohamed, from Edmonton, and Amin, from Harringay, both in north London, deny conspiracy to rob.
The two men, along with another man who is not on trial, are alleged to have acted as “spotters” – dining in the restaurant to keep track of Khan’s movements and relay them by phone to Bana.
CCTV footage that captured the robbery was shown to the jury. It shows Khan smiling as he left the restaurant with his wife before crossing the road towards a waiting car.
Two men jump out of a Mercedes coupe that is parked in front of Khan’s car and run towards the boxer as he opens the passenger-side door of the waiting car.
One hooded man raises his right arm to point the gun at Khan, who then hands over his watch.
The Bolton-born boxer said he looked into the handgun’s barrel when the robber pointed the weapon in his face and told him: “Take off the watch.”
Khan, who retired last year with a professional record of 34 wins from his 40 fights, earlier told the jury his wife was left “screaming and crying” following the robbery.
“[I was] really scared. I have got three kids, my wife was next to me as well,” he said.
“I’m a sportsman, I’m a fighter. I have always been put in the toughest situations when I go into the ring and fight someone, but this was totally different, very, very scary.”
