A 75-year-old man who was extradited from Pakistan was jailed for life on Friday for the murder of a British police officer nearly 20 years ago.
Piran Ditta Khan fled the country after Sharon Beshenivsky was shot at close range as she and a colleague arrived at the scene of a robbery at a travel agency in Bradford, northern England.
Although he did not pull the trigger, prosecutors at his trial said he was equally guilty of murder as he had planned the raid and knew that loaded weapons would be used.
Judge Nicholas Hilliard at Leeds Crown Court on Friday handed Khan a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years and told him: “You will inevitably spend the remainder of your life in custody.”
Beshenivsky, 38, had only been an officer with West Yorkshire Police for nine months before her death, which happened on her daughter Lydia’s fourth birthday.
Judge Hilliard praised Beshenivsky’s bravery in responding to the call “when she and her colleague had no way of knowing what they would be confronted with when they got there.
“Sharon Beshenivsky’s courage and commitment to duty that day cost her her life,” he added.
The rare fatal shooting of a police officer on duty caused widespread shock and revived calls for British police to routinely carry guns.
