PC Sharon Beshenivsky (née Jagger; 14 January 1967 – 18 November 2005) was a West Yorkshire Police constable shot and killed by a criminal gang during a robbery in Bradford on 18 November 2005, becoming the seventh female police officer in Great Britain to be killed on duty. Her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, was seriously injured in the same incident. Milburn had joined the force less than two years earlier; Beshenivsky had served only nine months as a Constable in the force at the time of her death, having been a Community Support Officer before.
Closed-circuit television cameras tracked a car rushing from the scene and used an automatic number plate recognition system to trace its owners. This led to six suspects being arrested; three were later convicted of murder, robbery, and firearms offences; two of manslaughter, robbery, and firearms offences; and one of robbery. Another suspect (Piran Ditta Khan) was arrested in Pakistan more than 14 years later.
In April 2023, Piran Ditta Khan was extradited to the United Kingdom from Pakistan following the work of specialist prosecutors and Pakistani counterparts. He has been charged with the murder, and is set to go before Westminster Magistrates Court.
Background
Beshenivsky had been serving as a police officer for nine months. She had previously been a police community support officer (collar #268) with West Yorkshire Police. Having been a constable for just nine months, she was classed as a probationer under the supervision of an experienced colleague.
Murder
On the afternoon of 18 November 2005, Beshenivsky and Milburn responded to reports that an attack alarm had been activated at a travel agent on Morley Street in Bradford. Upon arrival the officers encountered three men who had robbed the agent of £5,405; two were armed with a gun, another with a knife. One of the gunmen fired at them immediately at point-blank range, fatally wounding Beshenivsky in the chest and also hitting Milburn in the chest, before all three men made a getaway in a convoy of cars.
Beshenivsky was the seventh female officer to die in the line of duty in England and Wales and the second female officer to be fatally shot (the first was Yvonne Fletcher in London in 1984).
She had three children and two stepchildren and died on her youngest daughter's fourth birthday. Beshenivsky's funeral took place on 6 January 2006 at Bradford Cathedral.
Arrests
On 25 November 2005 police named Somali brothers Mustaf Jama, aged 25, and Yusaf Jama, aged 19, as well as 24-year-old Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah as prime suspects. Yusaf Jama was arrested in Birmingham the following day and was subsequently charged with murder and robbery. On 12 December Shah was arrested in Newport, South Wales; he was later also charged with murder. Mustaf Jama had fled to Somalia but was extradited two years later. The use of recently installed automatic number plate recognition technology in Bradford city centre played a vital role in identifying the suspects prior to their arrest.
More than 14 years after the crime, in January 2020, another suspect was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan. Piran Dhitta Khan, age 71 at the time of his arrest, was reported to be wanted for masterminding the robbery. British police were granted his extradition in April 2023.
Convictions
On 18 December 2006, Yusuf Jama was found guilty of all charges against him, including the murder of Beshenivsky. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years. This was expected to keep Yusuf Jama imprisoned until at least 2040 and the age of 60.
Shah was also sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years, which was also expected to keep him in prison until at least 2040 and the age of 60.
Faisal Razzaq, a 25-year-old from London, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 11 years before being considered for parole. This was expected to keep him imprisoned until at least 2017 and the age of 36. He had driven the lead car of the gang's convoy from Leeds to Bradford and acted as a lookout during the robbery.
On 2 March 2007, Hassan Razzaq, the 26-year-old brother of Faisal, was also convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He had also acted as a lookout. Raza Ul-Haq Aslam was a 3rd lookout and was sentenced to eight years in prison for a single robbery offence.
All of the suspects except Aslam were also found guilty of robbery and a series of firearms offences.