London, Apr 4 (PTI) A 75-year-old man extradited from Pakistan was convicted by a UK court on Thursday of the murder of a policewoman in northern England over 17 years ago.
Piran Ditta Khan was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Police Constable (PC) Sharon Beshenivsky and firearms offences, having pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing.
Khan had been extradited from Pakistan in April last year when he was formally charged with the murder of Beshenivsky in Bradford in November 2005.
“This verdict today is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts,” Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said outside court.
“Throughout this investigation, we left no stone unturned, and after several trials and convictions, the final suspect, Khan, has been found guilty of these heinous crimes. This has been a complex case with many hurdles along the way, but throughout all the challenges, we never gave up,” he said.
On November 18, 2005, PC Beshenivsky and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn were about to finish their shift when a call came over the radio about a theft alarm going off at the Travel Agents Universal Express on Morley Street in Bradford. As they approached the entrance to the travel agents, three men burst out of the shop, shooting Beshenivsky at close range, with colleague Milburn also being shot.
While Beshenivsky died from a gunshot wound to the chest, Milburn was taken to hospital, where she later recovered from her injuries. A manhunt for the suspects led to the arrest and conviction of six people. However, the final suspect and mastermind of the robbery fled the country to Pakistan.
“Piran Ditta Khan was the architect of the operation and meticulously planned the robbery that was to be carried out using firearms which, if they thought necessary, could be used to kill. Despite not firing the fatal shot, he is as guilty of Sharon’s murder as the man who pulled the trigger,” said David Holderness, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Yorkshire & Humberside region.
An extradition request was made by the CPS International team and Khan was tracked down by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). He was arrested by Pakistani law enforcement in January 2020.
Despite there not being an extradition treaty with Pakistan, the UK authorities were able to secure Khan’s extradition in March last year.
Tom Dowdall, NCA Deputy Director International, said: “NCA officers, both here in the UK and across the world, worked tirelessly alongside West Yorkshire Police, the CPS and our law enforcement partners in Pakistan to identify Khan’s location, culminating in his arrest in 2020 and extradition last year.
“This verdict would not have been possible without the dedicated work of our partners in Pakistan… Anyone who leaves the UK to avoid facing justice for crimes they have committed should know that we will leave no stone unturned to locate you, bring you back to the UK and put you before the courts.” Officers from West Yorkshire Police formally charged Khan with murder, firearms offences, and robbery once he was extradited. He now faces a life imprisonment term when he is sentenced at a later date. PTI AK GRS GRS GRS
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