Extradited Pakistani man charged with police officer’s killing in UK

A 74-year-old man who was extradited from Pakistan appeared in court in London on Thursday, charged with murdering a UK police officer nearly 18 years ago.

Piran Ditta Khan is accused of killing Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot as she tried to foil a robbery at a travel agency in November 2005.

Beshenivsky’s female colleague was also injured in the incident in Bradford, northern England. Neither officer was armed.

The rare fatal shooting of a police officer on duty in Britain triggered widespread shock and revived calls for police to routinely carry guns.

Beshenivsky, 38, had three children and two stepchildren. She had been an officer with West Yorkshire Police for only nine months before her death.

Khan, who was arrested in Pakistan in January 2020, was extradited to the UK on Tuesday, the Crown Prosecution Service said late on Wednesday.

As well as murder, he is also facing a single charge of robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

Charges against him were authorised in 2006, the CPS, which is responsible for prosecutions in England and Wales, said.

Khan appeared before a magistrate in central London and was remanded in custody until a further hearing on Monday. No pleas were entered.

Six men have previously been jailed in connection with the shooting, including a Somali national who was sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in jail.