Sharon Beshenivsky: PC's murderer should get whole-life term, court told

The ringleader of an armed robbery in which a police officer was killed almost 20 years ago should be given a whole life order, a court has heard.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was found guilty of murder last month for his part in the killing of PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in 2005.

He spent nearly two decades evading justice after fleeing to Pakistan shortly after the officer's murder.

Khan is due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court later.

At the end of his trial, Khan was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

He is the last of seven men involved in the robbery and murder at the Universal Express travel agents on 18 November 2005 to be sentenced.

Ahead of Khan's sentencing, Robert Smith, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court on Friday that the combination of his convictions was "exceptionally high" and he should be given a whole-life order.

Mr Smith said the fact Khan was involved in planning and preparing the robbery "distinguishes him from his co-defendants to a significant degree".

However, Peter Wright, defending, said a whole-life order was "the last resort for cases of most extreme gravity", and that he believed the minimum term would be the most likely.

Mr Wright added that Khan "appreciates his final years are in all probability to be spent in custody, with the forbidding prospect he will die there".

"No doubt there will be little or no public sympathy for such a state of affairs, nor do I seek it, but it is a factor I invite my lord to take into account when arriving at the appropriate order for this case," he told the judge.

PC Beshenivsky was shot at close range as she arrived at the scene of the robbery at the travel agents.

She was left lying on the pavement, her injuries instantly fatal.

The officer's colleague, Teresa Milburn, then 37, was also shot and seriously injured at the same time, though she survived the attack.

In the huge manhunt that followed, the gang, whose members had escaped with little more than £5,000, was eventually caught.

Six people were subsequently convicted of charges including murder and manslaughter - with Khan the seventh.

During the eight-week trial, jurors were told Khan was the mastermind behind the robbery and played a "pivotal role in planning the raid and giving instructions to the others".

Khan told the court he was waiting in a car and "eating sandwiches" with Hassan Razzaq while the raid was being carried out.

Razzaq and his brother Faisal Razzaq were later found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences. Raza Ul-Haq Aslam was convicted of robbery.

Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama - the three armed men who went into Universal Express - were convicted of murder, robbery and firearms offences.

PC Beshenivsky was killed on her youngest daughter Lydia's fourth birthday.

In an impact statement read to court, Lydia said: "I have little to no memory of her growing up, and I've had to rely on mum's friends and family telling me about her and the things she liked to do.

"I often think she was a hero that day and paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Her statement added: "Since that day and throughout my life, there has always been a void - a void that should have been filled by my mum's presence.

"But as a result of your actions - Khan and your associates that day - you robbed me of a future and precious time with my mum."

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