PC Sharon Beshenivsky: Man found guilty of murdering police officer shot dead during armed robbery in 2005

The mastermind behind an armed robbery resulting in the death of a police officer has been found guilty of her murder. Piran Ditta Khan has been convicted nearly two decades after PC Sharon Beshenivsky was fatally shot during a robbery at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

PC Beshenivsky and her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, were unarmed when they were shot at close range by one of the three perpetrators as they exited the business. Khan is the final member of the seven-man group involved in the robbery to be convicted, after almost 20 years.

The 75-year-old 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. Prosecutors said former takeaway boss Khan was the group’s ringleader and, although he did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid, played a “pivotal” role in planning it and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.

They told jurors this made him guilty of PC Beshenivsky’s murder “as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself”. He was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used them in the past to send money to family in Pakistan, the court heard. 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 the business’s owner, Mohammmad Yousaf, owed him £12,000 and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq offered to get his money back after the pair met through a business associate. Khan said he thought the men Razzaq sent would “intimidate” the staff at Universal Express, or at worst, “slap them”.

Prosecutor Robert Smith KC said Khan’s claim of being defrauded was an “entirely false” attempt to explain why he was in Bradford at the time of the robbery and murder. Jurors heard Khan, who was living in Enfield, London, at the time, was driven to Yorkshire by Razzaq on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

The day before the robbery, they travelled up again to a “safe house” in Leeds where they spent the night. Francois Baron, who was working on renovating the house, later told police he had heard the robbers discussing the plot in one of the bedrooms.

Mr Baron said he heard gunman Muzzaker Shah asking Khan: “Uncle, is it safe?” Khan was said to have replied: “Yes, it’s safe. Genuine.” Jurors heard Shah asked: “How much can we get?” and Khan replied: “Minimum £50,000, maximum target 100 grand.” The group were said to be “elated” and “confident,” shouting: “Let’s go do it.”

Prosecutors said the three robbers who were to go into Universal Express then changed into smart clothing, telling jurors this was because Khan knew they would have to appear “respectable” in order for staff to let them in through the electronically locked door.

In a convoy of three cars, the group then travelled to Bradford, where Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama entered the travel agents pretending to be customers. Initially inquiring about plane tickets, the trio suddenly vaulted over the counter and began demanding money, using weapons to strike several staff members, tying them up, and threatening violence if cash wasn't handed over.

They demanded £100,000 initially, later lowering the demand to £50,000, jurors were told. Waqas Yousaf, son of Mohammad Yousaf, informed the robbers they didn't have such a sum and managed to trigger an alarm, prompting police response. Responding to the alarm just as their shift was ending were PC Beshenivsky and PC Milburn, as described in the trial.

The robbers, upon seeing the police, exclaimed "the Feds are here" before fleeing with approximately £5,400, with one of them shooting the officers as they approached the doors of Universal Express. Khan was convicted of murder by a majority of 10-1 after deliberation by 11 jurors spanning nearly 19 hours across four days.

Additionally, he was found guilty, by a majority of 10-1, of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and unanimously convicted of two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He has admitted to the robbery charge.

PC Beshenivsky, 38, who had three children and two step-children, was gunned down on her youngest daughter’s fourth birthday and had only been an officer for nine months when she died from her injuries. PC Milburn, who survived being shot in the chest, told police the pair “didn’t have a chance” to get away from the gunman, and that they would have run away if he had given them any warning.