Liam Payne reveals he was robbed at knife-point aged 12

9 March 2019, 14:19

The former One Direction star says his ‘life flashed before his eyes’ in the ‘scary’ attack in Wolverhampton

Liam Payne has revealed he was held up at knife-point and robbed when he was just 12 years old.

The singer, 25, said he and his friend were lucky to ‘walk away with our lives’ when he spoke out about the terrifying ordeal that took place in the town of Bilston, Wolverhampton, 13 years ago.

He told the Mirror: ”This 6ft 2 guy says, ‘I will tell you the truth, lads, you’ve been brought here today to get jacked’.

"My life flashed before my eyes. He pulled out a massive hunting knife and I felt my heart in my throat. It was really scary.

"He was pointing the knife in our faces, then sharpening the blade with a stick and making up raps. We ended up giving him what we had in our wallets.

"Eventually we just legged it and jumped on the nearest bus even though we didn’t know where it was going.”

Liam first opened up about the violent mugging when he responded to a tweet about knife crime in Birmingham after accidentally being tagged in a post meant for Birmingham MP Liam Byrne.

The dad-of-one wrote: "I was held at knifepoint by a man in Bilston when I was 12 and me and my friend were robbed.

"Luckily that was all that happened and me and my friend walked away with our lives not everyone is so lucky."

"Any support you need count me in #knifecrime."

The MP tweeted back, thanking the former One Direction star for his support.

He wrote: "From one Liam to another: Thank you so much for the message 👍."

Liam Payne is calling on the government to act and has since joined the Mirror's End the Knife Epidemic campaign.