Yorke: I feared for my life

LONDON: Football star Dwight Yorke told a jury yesterday he feared for his life when he was robbed of his ?36,000 (US$67,300) watch in a swanky nightclub. The former Aston Villa, Manchester United and Blackburn striker, now with Birmingham City, said he was confronted by three men in the toilets of the Funky Buddah club in London’s Mayfair. After handing the watch over, however, he led a chase after the robbers along with some cab drivers and photographers and cornered one of them, celebrity bodyguard Godfrey Kessie, in a London Underground station.

Yorke told Southwark Crown Court he was convinced that one of the robbers was armed. “He went to his jacket pocket ... giving me the impression he had some sort of weapon,” he told the jury. “I was concerned about my life. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I found it quite scary.” He took his watch off and handed it over, before the three robbers fled.

But Yorke said he plucked up the courage to chase after them and was joined by cab drivers and some photographers who had been staking out the nightclub. “The three men ran in different directions,” Yorke said. “I followed the man who had got my watch.” Yorke caught up with Kessie and leaped upon him. But a group of Underground staff, thinking Yorke was the aggressor, pulled them apart. Kessie has pleaded guilty to robbing Yorke on June 30 last year. Two co-defendants, Maiur Hirani and Abbas Rizvi have pleaded innocent. The trial is expected to last several days. (AP)