The wife of millionaire soccer boss George Reynolds told yesterday how she thought her husband had been stabbed to death in a street mugging.

Susan Reynolds, 40, said her husband made such a noise during the attack that she feared for his life.

She spoke of her terror as she was cornered by one thug, who demanded she hand over her stag £9,000 Rolex watch.

Mr Reynolds, 64, chairman of Darlington Football Club, was pounced on by three thugs as he left a Chinese restaurant in North London with his wife and frail, 80-year-old mother-in-law.

Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, has heard how the gang tried to prise a diamond ring from Mr Reynold's finger before snatching his £41,000 gold wristwatch.

During the robbery, his wife's mother, May Firth, who is deaf, leapt on one of the robbers and tried to pull him away.

Seoul Beloit, 22, and Tao Aladesuyi, 23, deny mugging the family in Heath Street, Hampstead, just before midnight on May 10.

Mrs Reynolds, who has been married to the multi-millionaire for five years, said that she heard a "tremendous scuffle" before seeing three robbers.

She told the jury: "They had hold of my husband. My mother was hysterical. I saw my husband swing into the road and they all went down.

"Two men were on top him and the other one was trying to get his wrist watch off.

"George started to make the most dreadful screaming and shouting. I thought they had stabbed him. I thought: 'This is it. We've had It.'

"I could not think of anything but to make as much noise as I could, so I started to scream at the top of my voice.

"My mother jumped on top and had hold of one of them, and she was shouting: 'Leave him alone'."

Mrs Reynolds said passers-by were eventually alerted by the noise, and a refuse worker chased the gang off with a 12 ft roadworks barrier, leaving her husband sprawled in the pavement.

She said: "I heard George saying they had got his watch. I was just grateful that was all they had got.

"That was the first time I heard my husband speak. I thought he was dead. I was sure they had stabbed him."

Belete and Aladesuyi, both of West Hampstead, deny robbery and attempting to steal.

The trial continues