By Lucy Thornton
The family of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who’ve been through “hell and back,” now have justice after a robbery mastermind was found guilty of her murder.
Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was convicted of her murder almost two decades after the rookie officer was shot dead during a bungled robbery. A retired detective, who originally led the hunt for her killers, says finally there is “justice for Sharon” whose family had suffered such “torment”.
Police said the mum had made the “ultimate sacrifice.” PC Beshenivsky, 38, was killed and her colleague Teresa Milburn, 37, wounded during a deadly raid on a Bradford travel agents in November 2005.
Khan is the seventh man to face justice in connection with the robbery which he “orchestrated” 19 years ago. The raid ‘organiser’ - who told the court he sat nearby in a Mercedes SLK “eating sandwiches” as the raid took place - had escaped to Pakistan a few months later. He had fled in panic as the police net started to close in, abandoning his vehicle in a hotel car park. He was eventually arrested by Pakistani police in 2020 and was extradited last April to the UK.
In custody footage released by West Yorkshire Police, he is shown having the charges read to him and replies: “I have not murdered anyone." A jury with a majority of 10-1 didn’t agree and found him guilty of murder after deliberating for almost 19 hours following a seven week trial.
They also found him guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He had admitted robbery at a previous hearing.
Detective superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said from the steps of Leeds crown court they had remained "doggedly determined" to bring all of those responsible to justice. "Sharon and Teresa went to work that day fully expecting to come home to their families and friends. But due to the horrific actions of those who have now been convicted for those offences, that wasn't the case."
He acknowledged the "respect and dignity" shown by PC Beshenivsky's family and added: "I do hope today's convictions go some way in enabling them to move on with their lives. PC Sharon Beshenivsky lost her life in the most horrific of circumstances in the line of duty. She will always be remembered.
“This verdict today is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts. I would like to praise Sharon’s family for their bravery throughout. We will always remember the ultimate sacrifice made by PC Sharon Beshenivsky in the line of duty.”
After the verdict, police released pictures of the Mac-10 submachine gun the gang had taken to the robbery. The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, thanked the jury for its role in the case of a police officer who "set off for work that morning and never came home, all for doing her job to try and keep us all safe".
"Even after so many years it hardly bears thinking about," The Judge said. The only sentence for murder is imprisonment for life, I have to set the minimum term."
Khan, who showed no visible emotion when the verdicts were given, will be sentenced at a later date. PC Beshenivsky was just a rookie with nine months service when she became the seventh serving female police officer to be killed in the line of duty in Britain.
She died on her daughter Lydia’s fourth birthday, who was waiting for her mummy to come home. The mum had just two hours left on her shift when they answered a call after a secret alarm was activated at Universal Express.
The trial has been told how Sharon and Teresa “didn’t stand a chance” after they were blasted by an armed robber at point blank range, just moments after arriving on the scene. During Khan’s trial the jury heard if the robbers had just waved the gun at the two officers, they would have run off.
Teresa’s statement, read to the jury, told how her colleague “stopped in terror” in front of her as three robbers emerged from the travel agents. PC Milburn watched her colleague slump to the ground before she was herself hit by a bullet with “unbelievable force” .
The officer told how they were unarmed when they were shot: “We offered them no force, we did not have time to draw our batons or CS gas and we were otherwise unarmed. We didn’t have a chance…The man had no need to shoot us, none whatsoever."
Teresa was shot in the chest but fortunately, it missed her major organs. But Sharon, who was also shot in the chest, had “no chance of survival” after it penetrated her heart.
The jury had been told on the day of the raid, Khan was in a car hiding around the corner. Khan, who the gang called ‘Uncle,’ had denied knowing that weapons were going to be used that day.
He has claimed the motive for the robbery was that the business's owner, Mohammad Yousaf, owed him £12,000. The takeaway boss from Ilford claimed a debt collector had offered to get his money back for him.
Khan told the jury he thought the men would simply "intimidate" the staff or, at most, "slap" them. But Robert Smith KC successfully argued, Khan knew firearms were going to be used and had been the robbery “organiser”.
He told the jury: “He too is guilty of the murder of Police Constable Beshenivsky regardless of the fact that he did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed her..The defendant, and he alone among this group, knew the location, the business and the interior of the premises in question.
“...The fact the defendant remained in that car does not serve in any way to diminish his role in these events. He was responsible for organising this robbery, in the knowledge that loaded firearms were to be carried…”
During his trial the jury heard he knew they kept large amounts of cash on the premises as he had used their services before to send money to relatives in Pakistan. He’d boasted to the gang there was a “maximum target 100 grand” but on the day they fled with just £5,000.
Five days earlier Khan had travelled from his home in Greater London to carry out a recce before the raid. Then on the eve of the robbery, married Khan joined the gang at a safe house in Leeds before partying with sex workers and drinking champagne.
After the raid the panicked group gathered again at the safe house with several shaving off their hair after they saw the robbery on the television news. Muzzaker Shah was said to have been the one “in charge” during the raid and is suspected as being the robber who fired the fatal shot.
Shah was heard to say to Piran Ditta Khan, that he had not warned them there was a police station nearby. The former boss who led the original hunt for Sharon’s killer, Andy Brennan, described Khan as “cold” and “devious”.
He said: “I think the verdict clearly shows he was the mastermind and despite his efforts to convince everyone he had no knowledge of the firearms, he was clearly aware they were going to be used.”
Mr Brennan said after the verdict: “This is clearly justice for Sharon and her family as well as Teresa who has waited a long time.Clearly the family will have been to hell and back as a result of what’s happened and it’s difficult to imagine the pain and torment they have been through. I only hope this verdict gives a little bit of comfort to them at this time.”
In 2005 Sharon’s husband Paul told how he had to break the devastating news to their daughter Lydia. He recalled: “There were about 20 people at the house waiting for Sharon. We weren't expecting her for an hour or so. Then I saw a police car pull up and a person in a uniform coming down the drive.
"I thought: 'Jesus, Sharon's home early.' As the figure got nearer I realised that it was one of her colleagues. I thought: 'How many people has she invited to this party?'
"Then he said: 'I need to have a word with you.' We went outside. He said: 'I don't know how to tell you this, but your wife's in hospital. We need to hurry. She's been shot and it's serious. Her colleague has been shot as well.' "
Later he had to break the heartbreaking news to Lydia that her mummy was in heaven. He said she cried and kept asking: "Why did those bad men put Mummy in the sky?"
Retired detective, Mr Brennan, says he will never forget having to meet Sharon’s husband soon after he was told she had died. “I was informed just before I went into the house that it was Lydia’s birthday and I can still see the cards and presents in my head waiting." Mr Brennan said. Some cards and presents were open, some not, but I was grateful I was informed it was her birthday because I was still slightly taken aback by that. If I hadn't been it would have been more of a shock.
“I told Paul we had the best team available to me and we would find everyone involved. I remember I said to him and to Teresa (the officer injured in the raid) that I would ‘leave no stone unturned’ and get them all put before the court. “I knew that day would come eventually,“ he said.
“I made a commitment that night to Paul and his family I would track down every single person involved in Sharon’s murder. I also visited Teresa in hospital the same evening and gave her the same commitment, and the victims of what was an exceptionally violent robbery at the travel agency. I made a promise and I’m just so pleased with the conviction of Piran Ditta Khan I have fulfilled that.”
