Man accused of gunpoint robbery plot ‘did not know who Amir Khan was’

The former boxing world champion was targeted outside a restaurant in east London on April 18 last year.

Amir Khan outside Snaresbrook Crown Court (Jeff Moore/PA) (PA Wire)

A man accused of acting as a spotter in the gunpoint robbery of Amir Khan has told a jury he did not know who the former world boxing champion was.

The 2004 Olympic silver medallist, 36, was targeted as he and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, 31, left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, on April 18 last year.

Khan was forced to hand over his £70,000 bespoke rose gold diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch by gunman Dante Campbell, 20, Snaresbrook Crown Court has heard.

Campbell and Ahmed Bana, 25, who drove the robbers to and from the scene in a silver Mercedes coupe, have admitted their roles in the plot.

Two other men – 24-year-old Ismail Mohamed and 25-year-old Nurul Amin – are on trial accused of acting as “spotters” with Hamza Kulane, who is not on trial.

The three are said to have dined in the restaurant to keep track of Mr Khan’s movements and relay them by phone to Bana.

Mohamed, from Edmonton, and Amin, from Harringay, both in north London, deny conspiracy to rob.

Amin chose not to give evidence, while Mohamed told jurors on Monday he had not heard of Khan before accompanying his friends to the restaurant to break their Ramadan fast.

“I didn’t know who Amir Khan was,” he said.

“He was taking pictures with fans. Hamza pointed him out and said, ‘That’s Amir Khan, the boxer’.”

Mohamed said he then told Bana about the sportsman’s presence during a phone call.

“I said, ‘Guess who’s in the restaurant Sahara Grill with us? Amir Khan, the boxer.

“Ahmed said, ‘No way, what’s he doing there?’ I said, ‘He’s probably breaking fast’.”

Mohamed said Bana arranged with him to come to meet the group to buy cannabis.

The robbery, which lasted just seconds, was captured on CCTV which has been played to the jury.

Khan, who was a unified world champion at light-welterweight, said he looked into the handgun’s barrel when the robber pointed it weapon in his face and told him: “Take off the watch.”

Campbell, from Hornsey, and Bana, from Tottenham, both in north London, have admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.

The trial continues.