Plotter behind brutal murder of PC Sharon will die in jail
THE family of police officer Sharon Beshenivsky declared their 19-year ‘journey’ seeking truth and justice was at an end yesterday after the last of her killers was condemned to die behind bars.
Piran Ditta Khan, 75, who masterminded the armed robbery in which she was murdered, was given a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years.
His sentencing at Leeds Crown Court was an emotional moment for PC Beshenivsky’s husband Paul, 61, and their children Lydia, 22, and Paul, 25. Khan was convicted of murder in April.
In a statement, Lydia paid tribute to her ‘hero’ mother who ‘paid the ultimate sacrifice’ aged 38 attending an armed robbery. Her father, who has since remarried, said the trial had felt ‘like losing Sharon all over again’.
Judge Mr Justice Hilliard rejected the prosecution’s case for a ‘whole life order’, but said Khan would ‘inevitably’ never be released. He said PC Beshenivsky and her colleague Teresa Milburn – who was also shot but survived – deserved the public’s ‘admiration and gratitude’ for fearlessly responding to the robbery on the Universal Express travel agency in Bradford in November 2005.
The court heard Khan had picked the location of the robbery and gave the go-ahead for three men armed with guns and a knife to enter the travel agents. The judge said Khan ‘intended the weapons should be used to kill if necessary’.
Both officers were gunned down at point blank range as the robbers fled with just £5,405 of the £100,000 they hoped to steal.
With the net closing in, fatherof-six Khan left his business, wife and children behind and flew to his native Pakistan two months after the murder.
He remained a free man there until diplomatic pressure from the British Government led to his arrest in January 2020 and extradition to the UK.
Six other men have previously been convicted of charges including murder and manslaughter in
‘Weapons used to kill’
connection with the case. In a statement read in court, Mr Beshenivsky said: ‘If Piran Ditta Khan had never organised the robbery, Sharon would… have come home that day.’
A statement read outside court on behalf of the entire family said: ‘Our journey seeking justice and closure of the judicial process is now at an end. Enduring several trials over the years has… made us feel like we had lost Sharon all over again.’
From the early 1980s until 1998, Khan lived in Aberdeen, where he ran several takeaway restaurants. He was linked to a number of fast food outlets, but left the city after a fire at one of his premises.