Two men accused of acting as “spotters” in the gunpoint robbery of former world boxing champion Amir Khan have been cleared of charges of conspiracy to rob.
Ismail Mohamed, 24, from Edmonton, and Nurul Amin, 25, from Harringay, both in north London, were acquitted by a jury at East London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday.
Khan and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, were leaving the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, East London, on April 18 last year when he was robbed of his £70,000 diamond-encrusted watch.
During the trial, Khan, who was a unified world champion at light-welterweight, described how he had looked down the gun's barrel as the robber pointed it in his face and told him to “take off the watch”.
Two other men, Ahmed Bana and Dante Campbell, have admitted to their roles in the plot and will be sentenced at a later date.
The prosecution claimed Mr Mohamed and Mr Amin had been dining at the restaurant to keep track of Khan’s movements and relayed them by phone to Bana.
But the prosecution was unable to produce any forensic evidence linking the defendants to the crime.
The defence argued that the CCTV evidence showed they were “legitimately out for dinner” and not involved in the robbery.
Following the acquittal, one of Mr Amin's solicitors, Shah Mashud, relayed his appreciation to the legal team for “supporting me throughout this case and helping me for my name to be cleared”.
Rabah Kherbane, defence lawyer for Mr Mohamed, stated that his client had given “frank, honest evidence” and had never heard of Khan before accompanying his friends to the restaurant.
