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 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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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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.

‘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.”

Kate is “doing well” following her cancer diagnosis, Prince William has said.

The heir to the throne gave the update on his wife’s health on his first visit to the Isles of Scilly since becoming the Duke of Cornwall.

Tracy Smith, administrator at St Mary’s Community Hospital in Hugh Town, greeted William when he arrived and hosted his tour of the small medical centre following his visit to the harbour where he bought his entourage Cornish pasties.

Ms Smith said: “I asked William about his wife Kate and he said, ‘she’s doing well, thanks,’ and I suggested they might like to come for a visit and bring the children.”

William told her: “The children are very jealous that I am here… Maybe we might come later in the year.”

He was given a card for his father the King – also a cancer patient – and Kate by Matron Lynda McHale, who said: “It was a card from my granddaughter who wanted to wish his father and wife ‘get well soon’.”

Kate revealed she was undergoing cancer treatment in a video statement in March.

The Duchess of Cornwall said of her diagnosis at the time: “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.

“But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be okay.”

As the duke, William receives an income from the Duchy of Cornwall – a portfolio of land, property and investments – which owns much of the Isles of Scilly and nearly a third of residential buildings.

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During his visit to the archipelago, the prince treated his staff to a round of Cornish pasties from the harbour cafe.

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Asked what type he wanted, William replied “traditional”, and asked for five.

As everyone in the cafe laughed, he quickly added: “They’re not all for me.”

He added: “It does smell delicious in here.”

He also donned a wetsuit to go swimming in the waters around Tresco – where it is rumoured he spends breaks with his family.

We are rushing down the beach. In the gloom just before dawn, people are waiting by the seashore, a few hundred metres away.

We can see a dinghy out at sea. And then a voice rings out, in Kurdish.

“Whose passengers are you?”

In the half-light, the people smuggler thinks we are customers here to clamber on to the boat, and wants to know who we had paid.

We tell him we’re journalists.

“Keep out of the way,” he warns.

There are several dozen people gathered together, standing on the shoreline, moving anxiously from side to side.

I can see some women and children, but most of the passengers are men.

Some are clinging to a bag of possessions; others have nothing but the clothes they stand in. A man has his child held up on his shoulders.

Just about everyone is wearing a life jacket.

Just beyond, the boat is coming near the shore, already half full of people.

It seems impossible that all the people on the land can really fit into the space left in the boat, but that’s what happens.

On a signal, the movement starts – the younger men clamber in first, and then help the women, children and older people to get into the boat.

It all happens remarkably quickly. From a distance, migrant boats may look ramshackle and chaotic, but when you get up close, there is method and practice.

Some people jump off; the men who didn’t have life jackets on.

It becomes clear that these are the smugglers – or, more accurately, the smugglers’ assistants who have been sent to sort things out.

On one side, we see a moment of tension as two passengers square up – one accuses the other of not leaving a space for him to get aboard.

It is a faintly ridiculous squabble, like something between two drunk men in a pub, and it blows over. They end up sitting next to each other, brooding.

And then the engine is started and the boat sets off. At first, it’s a failure – the boat, low in the water with around 70 people on board, gets stuck on a small bar of sand and spins around.

But, with a push here and there, it gets going and slowly chugs away into the mist of the morning.

‘Migrants are desperate’

We turn around. The smugglers are leaving. We shout a question – are all these people Kurds?

“All of them,” he says. “These are the last Kurdish customers I have. There are no more.”

“Why not?”

And his answer is one succinct word: “Rwanda.”

The smugglers, dressed in black, disappear into the gloom.

We can just about see them clambering into the dunes, and then they are gone. It is a good ten minutes before we see the police – four officers marching down the beach.

They ask only two questions – firstly, did we see women and children on the boat (yes) and secondly, had the boat been launched from the beach (no).

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They’d only just started their patrol, one of the officers tells me. He looks at the calm waters and shrugs. It could be busy.

Over the course of that night, we had seen plenty of police officers. We’d been questioned on the beach, checked as we walked near the beach and then pulled over at a road block.

We’d chatted with a team of CRS riot officers on the beach, one of whom bemoaned the fact that so few people grasped the sheer complexity of what they took on.

“It is so, so complicated – the migrants are desperate, and they can get everywhere. We cannot have a team in every place, at every time.”

It turned out that the road block officers were exactly the same team who we’d met on a different beach the previous evening.

“Ah, Sky News you are back,” he said, with a smile and a handshake.

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‘I cannot go to Rwanda’

We meet two young Sudanese men who tell us they are determined to get to Britain. When I ask if they’re worried about the Rwanda plan, they look blank. They’ve never heard of it.

And then we drop into a migrant camp that is growing in size and bump into another group of Kurds.

They are cooking food – this is the cafe for the migrants – and brewing tea that is strong, and scented with cinnamon.

They give me a cup. It’s delicious.

Omar is kneading dough, making crispy flatbread, and serving it with yoghurt. And he talks as he cooks, serving a remarkable story.

Two years ago, Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Yes, you read that correctly. He paid to be smuggled out of Britain, and back to France.

“Here there is no washing or bath,” he says.

“You can’t clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

“Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn’t cope with Britain anymore.

“They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda – I cannot go there.

“So that’s why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old. It’s a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?”

Listening to him is Barzan, who arrived in the camp five days ago after eight months on the road since leaving Kurdistan.

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By striking contrast, he is not remotely bothered by the Rwanda plan.

“People won’t stop, whatever you tell them.

“Even if you tell them they will be taken to Africa, they would still go without hesitation. Rwanda is better than Kurdistan.

“But in Britain there is work. The currency is strong. I’m young and I want to make a life for myself.”

Another voice is raised – a man named Karwan.

He hears the word Rwanda, shrugs, smiles and shakes his head: “I think it’s a joke. Two years ago they started going on about Rwanda and nothing came of it.

“Now, it’s just for the sake of the election. Nothing else.”