Justice at last...promise made to family after murderer twice faked his death

SHARON Beshenivsky's murderer tried to evade justice by faking his death at least twice, the police chief who led the hunt for him has revealed.

- Paul Jeeves

Almost two decades after rookie officer Sharon, 38, was shot dead on her daughter's fourth birthday by robbers, gang mastermind Piran Ditta Khan was finally convicted of murder yesterday.

Khan, now 75, who had fled to his native Pakistan, will now die behind bars. He is the seventh and final person to be jailed for the bungled 2005 raid on a Bradford travel agency.

Sharon's colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, was shot in the chest but survived. Yesterday former West Yorkshire Police Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said: "This is clearly justice for Sharon and her family as well as Teresa, who has waited a long time.

"I'd promised Sharon and Teresa's family I would leave no stone unturned." Police received "intelligence" claiming Khan had died on least two occasions. But Mr Brennan said: "We were suspicious of the intelligence received so we carried on hunting for him." Khan, who had used several aliases as he moved around Pakistan's capital Islamabad, had even registered online a grave in his home village, bearing his original name.

But Mr Brennan said his efforts failed to "hoodwink" police every time.

Khan's luck finally ran out after Mr Brennan kept up the pressure, chasing authorities both at home and overseas. The fugitive was arrested by Pakistani police in 2020 and extradited last year.