Sharon Beshenivsky: Piran Ditta Khan jailed for life for murdering police officer
The mastermind of an armed robbery in which PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead in 2005 has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years.
Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was last month found guilty of murdering the West Yorkshire Police officer, who was shot at point-blank range at Universal Express travel agent in Morley Street, Bradford.
Prosecutors said that although Khan was not one of the three smartly dressed men who carried out the raid, he had played a “pivotal” role and was guilty of murder “as surely as if he pulled the trigger on that pistol himself”.
PC Beshenivsky, 38 – who had only been a police officer for nine months – and colleague PC Teresa Milburn, then 37, were both unarmed when they responded to an alarm call and were shot in the chest on 18 November 2005.
PC Sharon Beshenivsky. Pic: CPS
PC Beshenivsky collapsed to the floor with an immediately fatal injury, while PC Milburn survived after radioing for help while she was on the pavement coughing up blood.
Khan fled to Pakistan three months after the shooting and evaded arrest for 15 years until he was detained by Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.
He pleaded guilty to robbery and was found guilty of murder, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, handed him a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years today, telling Khan he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
He told Khan he was sure he had the idea of robbing the travel agency, and “intended that the weapons should be used to kill if necessary to do so”, adding that he was part of a “planned enterprise” and shared “murderous intent”.
He praised PC Beshenivsky for responding to the call “when she and her colleague had no way of knowing what they would be confronted with when they got there”.
“Pc Sharon Beshenivsky’s courage and commitment to duty that day cost her life,” he said.
Khan, wearing a blue tracksuit and listening to his interpreter, had his head down as he was sentenced.
He is the last of the seven men involved in the raid to be tried – Mustaf Jama, Yusuf Jama and Muzzaker Shah are serving life sentences with minimum 35-year terms after being found guilty of murder, robbery and firearms offences in 2006 and 2007.
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Moment Piran Ditta Khan is charged with PC’s murder
‘A hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice’
PC Beshenivsky had three children and was stepmother to her husband Paul Beshenivsky’s two children from a previous relationship. Her widow and children watched as Khan was sentenced.
The court heard she was nearing the end of her shift and talked about how she was looking forward to her youngest daughter Lydia’s fourth birthday party moments before volunteering for the fatal call.
In a victim personal statement read at court, Lydia praised her mother as “a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice”.
Lydia said she was “too young and innocent” to understand what happened and was told she “screamed her head off” after being told that her mother had died, although she has no memory of it.
PC Teresa Milburn and Paul Beshenivsky. Pic: PA
Read more: How fatal robbery unfolded
She said she was proud of her mother for “doing the job she loved”, adding: “There will always be a void in my life – a void that should have been filled with my mum’s presence but as a result of violent, callous actions by you, Piran Ditta Khan, and your associates that day, you robbed me of a future and precious time with my mum.
“Every birthday is a reminder of what happened that day. It has recently been Mother’s Day, and while my friends are celebrating with their mums, I sadly can never do that.”
Paul Beshenivsky, who had been married to PC Beshenivsky for four years when she died, said telling the children what had happened was “the hardest thing I have ever had to do”.
“The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and futile way,” he said in a statement.
“If Piran Ditta Khan had never organised the robbery, Sharon would never have been shot dead and she would have come home that day.”
Botched robbery
Khan was the only member of the group who was familiar with the travel agency and had previously used them to send money to family in Pakistan, the court heard.
At his trial, Khan told the jury the owner owed him £12,000 and thought the men sent to recover the money would only “intimidate” the staff.
The Mercedes SLK connected to the robbery. Pic: PA
A Mac 10 used in the robbery. Pic: PA
Three men went into the travel agency, posing as customers before jumping over the counter and demanding money.
They struck several staff members with their weapons, tied their hands and threatened to “shoot the youngest” if they were not given cash.
The men initially demanded £100,000 before stating they wouldn’t leave without £50,000 and the business owner’s son managed to press an alarm which alerted police.
When PC Beshenivsky and PC Milburn arrived on the scene, the robbers shouted “the feds are here” and fled with around £5,400 after one of them gunned down the officers.
Khan being taken into custody at Elland Road Police Station in April 2023. Pic: PA
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The court heard Khan, who had told his accomplices they would make between £50,000 to £100,000, did not leave the safety of the Mercedes SLK used as the lookout car.
PC Milburn said in a statement she and her colleague “didn’t have a chance” and described PC Beshenivsky “stopping in terror” as she approached the door of Universal Express and saw the gunman.
She was the seventh serving female officer ever to be killed in the line of duty in Britain and left behind her husband Paul, three children and two stepchildren.
PC Sharon Beshenivsky. Pic: Reuters
‘A journey seeking truth and justice’
In a statement, her family said 18 November 2005 “is a date that will remain etched in our memories forever” and was the start of an almost 19-year journey”.
“A journey seeking the truth and justice for Sharon, who was not just a police officer, but a loving mum, wife, daughter, sister, and a friend to many,” they said.
“Our journey seeking justice and closure of the judicial process is now at an end. This journey has and continues to be difficult for us all.”
The statement added: “No prison sentence could ever compensate us for Sharon’s life and our loss, but we will move forward knowing that justice has been served.
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West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Twiggs added: “For 18 years we have never given up on getting justice for Sharon and Teresa, and today their families have received that justice.
“Sharon was murdered in the line of duty, in what was a totally unnecessary act. Sharon was doing her job and protecting the public.”
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
“It has been a success.”
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
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As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.
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