Sharon Beshenivsky: Piran Ditta Khan sentenced to life in prison for killing police officer | UK news

The mastermind of an armed robbery in which PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead in 2005 is likely to die in prison after being sentenced today.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was last month found guilty of killing a West Yorkshire Police officer who was shot Point blank at the Universal Express travel agent in Morley Street, Bradford.

He was sentenced to life with a minimum sentence of 40 years.

Prosecutors said that while Khan was not one of the three smartly dressed men who carried out the raid, he played a “pivotal” role and committed the crime “as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself that gun”.

PC Beshenivsky, 38 – who had only been a police officer for nine months – and colleague PC Teresa Milburn, then 37, were both unarmed when they responded to an alarm call and were shot in the chest on November 18, 2005.

PC Beshenivsky collapsed to the floor with an instantly fatal injury, while PC Milburn survived after radioing for help while on the pavement coughing up blood.

Khan fled to Pakistan three months after the shooting and escaped arrest for 15 years until he was detained by the Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and was found guilty of murder, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, today jailed him for life with a minimum term of 40 years, telling Khan he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

He told Khan he was sure he had the idea to rob the travel agency and “intended that the weapons be used to kill if necessary”, adding that it was part of a “planned enterprise” and that he shared “the intention criminal”. “.

He praised PC Beshenivsky for responding to the call “when she and her colleague had no way of knowing what they were going to face when they got there”.

“PC Sharon Beshenivsky’s courage and commitment to duty that day cost her her life,” he said.

Khan, wearing a blue tracksuit and listening to his interpreter, had his head down as he was sentenced.

He is the last of seven men involved in the raid to stand trial – Mustaf Jama, Yusuf Jama and Muzzaker Shah are serving life sentences with minimum sentences of 35 years after being found guilty of murder, robbery and weapons offenses of fire in 2006 and 2007.

“A hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice”

PC Beshenivsky had three children and was stepmother to her husband Paul Beshenivsky’s two children from a previous relationship. The widow and her children watched as Khan was sentenced.

The court heard he was nearing the end of his shift and spoke of how he was looking forward to his youngest daughter Lydia’s fourth birthday party moments before he volunteered for the fatal call.

In a victim personal statement read to the court, Lydia praised her mother as “a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice”.

Lydia said she was “too young and innocent” to understand what happened and was said to have “screamed her head off” after being told her mother had died, although she has no recollection of it.

Read more: How the fatal robbery unfolded

She said she was proud of her mother for “doing the job she loved”, adding: “There will always be a void in my life – a void that should have been filled with my mother’s presence, but as a result of violent and callous actions. by you, Piran Ditta Khan, and your associates that day, you robbed me of a future and precious time with my mother.

“Every birthday is a reminder of what happened that day. Recently it was Mother’s Day and while my friends celebrate with their mothers, unfortunately I never get to do that.”

Paul Beshenivsky, who was married to PC Beshenivsky for four years when he died, said telling the children what happened was “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do”.

“The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and senseless way,” he said in a statement.

“If Piran Ditta Khan had never staged the robbery, Sharon would never have been shot and would have come home that day.”

Wrong robbery

Khan was the only member of the group who knew the travel agency and had previously used them to send money to the family in Pakistan, the court heard.

At his trial, Khan told the jury that the landlord owed him £12,000 and that the men sent to recover the money would only “intimidate” staff.

Three men entered the travel agency, pretending to be customers before jumping over the counter and demanding money.

They hit several staff members with guns, tied their hands and threatened to “shoot the little one” if they were not given money.

The men initially demanded £100,000 before saying they would not leave without £50,000 and the business owner’s son managed to raise an alarm which alerted the police.

When PC Beshenivsky and PC Milburn arrived at the scene, the robbers shouted “the feds are here” and made off with around £5,400 after one of them shot the officers.

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The court heard Khan, who told his accomplices they would make between £50,000 and £100,000, did not leave the safety of the Mercedes SLK used as a surveillance car.

PC Milburn said in a statement that she and her colleague “didn’t stand a chance” and described PC Beshenivsky “stopping in horror” as he approached the door of Universal Express and saw the gunman.

She was the seventh serving officer to be killed in the line of duty in Britain and is survived by her husband Paul, three children and two stepchildren.

“A journey in search of truth and justice”

In a statement, her family said November 18, 2005 “is a date that will be etched in our memories forever” and was the beginning of a journey of almost 19 years.

“A journey in search of truth and justice for Sharon, who was not only a police officer, but a loving mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend to many,” they said.

“Our journey to justice and closure in the legal process is now at an end. This journey has been and continues to be difficult for all of us.”

The statement added: “No prison sentence could ever make up for Sharon’s life and our loss, but we will move forward knowing that justice has been served.

Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Twiggs of West Yorkshire Police added: “For 18 years we have never given up on getting justice for Sharon and Teresa and today their families have received that justice.

“Sharon was killed in the line of duty in a totally unnecessary act. Sharon was doing her job and protecting the public.”