Sharon Beshenivsky: Man, 74, extradited from Pakistan accused of murdering Bradford PC appears in court

A man accused of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago has appeared in court after being extradited from Pakistan.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, was brought back to the UK on Tuesday (11 April) and taken into custody at West Yorkshire police station where he was charged with the killing of the 38-year-old officer on 18 November 2005.

He appeared in the dock of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London wearing a blue and white Nike tracksuit jacket.

PC Beshenivsky was fatally shot while responding to a robbery at a travel agent in Morley Street, Bradford. The mum-of-three and two stepchildren had been with West Yorkshire Police for nine months when she was killed.

She responded to the incident with colleague PC Teresa Millburn who was also seriously injured but survived the attack.

Khan, who was arrested by police in Pakistan in January 2020, is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the charges were authorised in 2006, leading an extradition warrant to be issued.

Joanne Jakymec, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: “A suspect wanted in connection with the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in 2005 has been extradited to the UK from Pakistan thanks to the continued hard work of prosecutors in the CPS’s extradition and international units.

“Since Piran Ditta Khan was arrested in Pakistan in 2020, our specialist prosecutors have been working closely with our Pakistani partners to complete the legal process in the country so that he could be extradited back to England to face the allegations from almost 20 years ago.”