Man accused of murdering Pc Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago appears in court

A man accused of murdering Pc Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago has appeared in court following his extradition from Pakistan.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, is charged with the murder of the 38-year-old on November 18, 2005, as she and a colleague responded to a robbery at Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford.

The 38-year-old married mother-of-three, with two stepchildren, was a probationer with only nine months’ service when she was killed.

Her colleague, Pc Teresa Millburn was seriously injured.

He is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

He was not asked to enter a plea to any of the alleged offences and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and to tell the court he was having some trouble hearing.

The court heard that a warrant was issued for the arrest of the defendant in Pakistan in 2018 and that he was was detained in 2020.

Khan is charged with the robbery of Mohammed Yousaf of a quantity of cash of a value unknown.

The firearms charges relate to his alleged possession of a Mac 10 sub-machine gun and a 9mm pistol.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place on the same day.

No bail application was made and District Judge John Zani remanded Khan back into custody before he appears at the Old Bailey on Monday.

The judge told him: “All the allegations that you face are to be dealt with at a higher court, the Crown Court, so I am transferring this case to the Central Criminal Court in London and you will appear there on Monday.”

The trial may take place in Leeds but detailed arrangements for that were not made, the court heard.