THE final man involved in the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky was brought back from Pakistan a year ago today, after fleeing to the country two months after she was gunned down.
Piran Ditta Khan, 75, of no fixed abode was found guilty of the 38-year-old police officer’s murder at Leeds Crown Court last Thursday.
It brought to an end almost 20 years of trying to hunt down and bring Khan to justice – the final member of gang who committed an armed robbery that ended in tragedy.
PC Beshenivsky was shot “at almost point-blank range” by one of three men with a 9mm self-loading pistol, outside Universal Travel Express, in Morley Street, Bradford on November 18, 2005.
Khan was deemed to be the brains behind the armed robbery, where he sat in a car round the corner communicating the plan, with the operation “on his order”.
As three men – Muzzaker Shah, and brothers Mustaf Jama and Yusuf Jama – carried out the robbery, wielding what was to become the murder weapon, a MAC-10 submachine gun, and a knife which they had produced from a laptop bag, Khan was sat eating a sandwich in the car.
The trio fled with less money than they had hoped and shot PC Beshenivsky and her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, as they approached the entrance to the travel agents after responding to their police radio in relation to a panic alarm being set off there.
The court heard that Khan could feel the net closing in as members of the seven-strong gang began to be arrested.
So he fled, getting on a flight from London Heathrow to Islamabad on January 22, 2006.
Khan remained at liberty until January 2020, when he was arrested and detained by the Pakistan Authority, after a request from the British Government.
West Yorkshire Police said in March 2023 it was continuing to "vigorously pursue" his extradition back to the UK.
And a month later, they succeeded.
Khan was returned to the UK on April 12, 2023, by officers from the region’s police force.
He arrived at Elland Road Police Station, in Leeds and was formally charged with multiple offences in relation to the horrifying killing of PC Beshenivsky.
The 75-year-old’s trial began just under a year later, on February 12, 2024.
More than seven weeks later the jury returned guilty verdicts on all five offences Khan was on trial for, after 19 hours of deliberation which began just before 3.30pm on March 27.
Khan’s other offences were two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
He had already pleaded guilty to robbery.
The Telegraph & Argus asked West Yorkshire Police if a sentencing date has been set but a spokesperson replied to say it is yet to be confirmed.
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