Michael Watson
The carer of Michael Watson said he thought the former boxing champ had died after he was dragged at 50mph hanging out of a car during an attempted carjacking.
The disabled former fighter’s carer was also sprayed with ammonia during the terrifying incident, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
Jurors saw a video police interview with Lennard Ballack, who said he has been friends with the Commonwealth middleweight champion for 34 years and been his carer for around 16 years.
He drives Michael around for events and says he spends ‘24/7’ with the legend – who he describes as his best friend.
Michael owns a racing blue VW golf that has ‘four exhausts’ and is admired by boy racers, according to Mr Ballack.
He told a detective: “I kept on saying ‘is Michael dead? Is Michael dead?’ And then the police arrived and they radioed to find out how Michael was and it was a relief that just ran through me knowing he was able to talk in the ambulance.
“I just wish that I could have prevented Michael from being dragged. That’s the only downfall in my life, that I couldn’t be there for him.
Mr Ballack was sprayed with the corrosive liquid as thugs tried to steal the car he was driving with former boxer near their home in Chingford, east London.
Mr Ballack said his car was ‘bumped’ as he drove back from the Blue Lagoon restaurant in Chingford with Michael on February 16 last year.
The 55-year-old said he got out of the car and approached a white Mercedes, but screamed with pain as someone rolled down the window and squirted a liquid into his face.
The court heard Mr Watson’s hand got caught in the seatbelt of the passenger seat and he was dragged for 150 metres ‘at about 40 to 50 miles per hour.”
Mr Ballack said: “Michael was in great spirits that day so we decided to go to our favourite restaurant the Blue Lagoon and maybe go for a little walk back to the house.
“We have our lunch and are driving back. All of a sudden I was stationary and I felt a bump on the back of the car and I said ‘Mike just a minute let me check what this is’.
“I go to the back of the car and noticed a little chip. I said ‘Mike there’s a little chip, I’m going to pull in’. And a Mercedes pulled in.
“I walked over to the car of the other driver. I went to the window and I noticed they were tinted.
“I noticed the window didn’t come down. Before I could even think, the passenger came out of the car and went to Michael’s car.
“It was timed. The driver put the window down and squirted me in the eyes. Then my eyes were burning and I was screaming through the pain and all I was thinking was to get to Michael.
“I heard Michael scream. As I went to go over my jacket was sort of pulled back.”
Mr Ballack said he was then hit with what he believed was a ‘metal pole’. As he was pulled to the ground he was kicked in the face.
He said as he forced his eyes open he saw both cars drive away.
Mr Ballack said: “I dove out of the way and as I did the Mercedes came at me and I rolled away and I saw Michael being dragged maybe 40 to 50 Miles per hour in the road as his hand had got caught in the seatbelt as he tried to get out.
“At the time I was screaming, screaming.
“I was nothing but panicked. My heart was racing.”
Mr Watson’s boxing career was cut short as a result of a near-fatal brain injury sustained during a fight against Chris Eubank for the WBO super-middleweight title in 1991.
Simon Luck, 29, and Paul Samuels, 31, and Anselm Legemah, 23, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery on January 28 last year and one count of applying a corrosive liquid on February 16.
Luck and Samuels are also charged with applying a corrosive liquid during a similar car jacking incident on February 4.
Luck and Samuels, both of Manor Park, Newham, are charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of applying a corrosive fluid.
Anselm Legemah, of Plaistow, Newham, is charged with one count of conspiracy to rob and one count of applying a liquid.
Mr Watson, now 53, was known in his heyday as ‘The People’s Champion’.
He was left with life-changing injuries after his infamous fight with Chris Eubank in 1991 that left him in a 40-day coma.
The trial continues.
