The mastermind of an armed robbery in which a police officer was killed and another seriously injured evaded capture for almost 20 years before being extradited from Pakistan, prosecutors told a jury.
Police constable Sharon Beshenivsky was killed on 18 November 2005 while she and colleague Pc Teresa Milburn were responding to a report of a robbery at Universal Express travel agencies in Morley Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Prosecutor Robert Smith KC said the two police officers were shot at almost point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the robbery, with the gunman “firing indiscriminately” as he fled the scene before getting into a nearby car.
Jurors heard that seven people in total were involved in the robbery and all but Piran Ditta Khan were convicted.
Khan, 75, who prosecutors say masterminded the robbery, flew to Pakistan three months after Pc Beshenivsky’s death and remained free there until he was arrested and detained by Pakistani authorities in January 2020.
Mr Smith said he arrived in the UK last April following an extradition request from the British Government and is currently facing charges of murder, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Pc Beshenivsky’s widow Paul watched from the public gallery as the trial began on Tuesday.
Mr Smith told jurors that although Khan was not one of the three men who carried out the robbery and did not shoot Pc Beshenivsky, he was “responsible for organizing this robbery knowing that loaded firearms would be carried”.
Jurors heard that Khan “did not leave the safety” of the Mercedes SLK used as a surveillance vehicle during the robbery.
But Mr Smith said the men who carried out the robbery “were prone to using their firearms to kill or seriously injure anyone in their path … something the defendant was well aware of”.
“The role he played led the prosecution to argue that he was also guilty of the murder of Sharon Beshenivsky,” the prosecutor said.
Leeds Crown Court heard that, as well as being a travel agency, Universal Express also provided a service for people living and working in the UK to transfer money to the bank accounts of relatives in Pakistan.
Mr Smith said Khan, who lives in Ilford, north London, had used the service before and was “the only person in the group who knew the location of the business and the inside of the building in question”.
The court also heard that he was aware that a large amount of cash was held at the premises during the day.
Jurors heard seven men gathered at a house in Leeds on the morning of the robbery and a witness heard one of them ask Khan how much money they could expect to get.
Mr Smith said the witness heard Khan say a minimum of £50,000 and a maximum of £100,000.
Jurors were told Universal Express staff were required to allow customers to enter the facility through an electric locked door.
Mr Smith said two of the men who carried out the robbery were “dressed in suits for the occasion”, while the third wore a smart white shirt and jacket.
One of them was also carrying a laptop bag containing “at least one pistol and a machine gun, both loaded,” as well as a large knife and cable designed to “tie up personnel at the facility.”
“Their dressing in this way was not a coincidence, but a result of their knowledge of how the facility was operated, in particular the need to present themselves as responsible persons in order to be admitted to the facility,” the prosecutor said.
Mr Smith said Khan was the only one of the group with this information and told jurors the defendant had also visited Universal Express five days earlier “to complete the plan for the robbery”.
The court heard that on the day Pc Beshenivsky died, the three cars involved in the robbery – a Toyota Rav4 containing the three men who carried out the robbery, a Mercedes SLK in which Khan was a passenger, and a Toyota Corolla – were traveling in convoy. and parked in different places close to the workplace.
Jurors were told Pc Beshenivsky, 38, and Pc Milburn, then 37, were unarmed when they attended a report of a robbery and “neither posed an effective threat to the three men”.
Mr Smith said Pc Beshenivsky was slightly ahead of Pc Milburn as he approached the door of the Universal Express.
Pc Milburn later described seeing the door open and an Asian man holding his hand out in front of him and pointing at Pc Beshenivsky.
Mr Smith said: “After this man shot Sharon Beshenivsky, Teresa Milburn saw him move his gun towards her. She heard an explosion and felt great pain. She knew immediately that she had been shot.”
The court heard Pc Beshenivsky’s injuries were instantly fatal. PC Milburn, who activated his personal radio and called for help while vomiting blood on the pavement, survived his injuries after being treated at the hospital.
Mr Smith said before leaving England for Islamabad, Khan had a “settled business and home life in England and Scotland” and owned a fast food outlet in Aberdeen.
The court heard others involved in the robbery have since been convicted of offenses including murder, manslaughter, robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Khan denies the accusations and the trial continues.