Sharon Beshenivsky murder: Robbery mastermind jailed for life after murder of Yorkshire police officer

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky's family watched from court as the last member of the gang responsible for the armed raid that claimed her life was sentenced after almost 20 years.

Pc Beshenivsky was killed on her daughter's fourth birthday while interrupting a robbery at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford in November 2005.

She and her colleague Pc Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the raid as he emerged from the door of the business.

In April this year Piran Ditta Khan - the gang's ringleader - became the last of seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted after spending almost 15 years on the run.

The 75-year-old was found guilty of murdering Pc Beshenivsky, as well as two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He pleaded guilty to robbery.

Leeds Crown Court heard that although Khan was eating sandwiches in a lookout car when the two officers were shot, he played a "pivotal" role in planning the raid and knew loaded weapons would be used.

Prosecutors said this made him guilty of Pc Beshenivsky's murder "as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself".

On Friday (May 10), Mr Justice Hilliard jailed Khan for life with a minimum term of 40 years.

Peter Wright, defending, said due to Khan's age, his "final years, in all probability, are to be spent in custody with the forbidding prospect that he will die there".

During the trial, jurors heard Khan was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used the firm in the past to send money to family in Pakistan.

He flew to Pakistan two months after Pc Beshenivsky's death and remained at liberty there until he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in January 2020 and then extradited to the UK last year.

Khan told jurors he had no knowledge that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken.

He claimed he was trying to reclaim £12,000 owed to him by Universal Express's owner and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq, who was later convicted of the manslaughter of Pc Beshenivsky, had offered to help get his money back.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence of this. The court heard Pc Beshenivsky's injury was immediately fatal.

Pc Milburn, who activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood, survived her injuries after hospital treatment.

In a victim personal statement read in court, Pc Beshenivsky's daughter Lydia said she was "too young and innocent" to understand what happened when her mother failed to return home from work to celebrate her birthday.

Ms Beshenivsky described her mother as "a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice" and said she was proud of her for "doing the job she loved".

She said: "There will always be a void in my life - a void that should have been filled with my mum's presence but as a result of violent, callous actions by you, Piran Ditta Khan, and your associates that day, you robbed me of a future and precious time with my mum.

"Every birthday is a reminder of what happened that day. It has recently been Mother's Day, and while my friends are celebrating with their mums, I sadly can never do that."

Paul Beshenivsky, who had been married to Pc Beshenivsky for four years when she died, said telling the children what had happened was "the hardest thing I have ever had to do".

His statement read: "The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and futile way. She never came home due to the actions and organisation of one person - Piran Ditta Khan. If Piran Ditta Khan had never organised the robbery, Sharon would never have been shot dead and she would have come home that day."

David Holderness, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The sentencing of Piran Ditta Khan brings an 18-year-old case to its just end.

“Khan’s fateful decision to execute an armed robbery and purchase deadly firearms is the reason PC Sharon Beshenivsky is not alive today.

“Even though he did not fire the fatal shot, his actions stole from Sharon and those who knew her a lifetime together, and as he is sentenced today our thoughts remain with her family and loved ones.

“This was a complex investigation and prosecution, and I would like to thank West Yorkshire Police, the National Crime Agency, the authorities in Pakistan and our colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service’s International Unit – it was only because of this cross-agency working that we were able to secure a conviction against Khan.”