PC Sharon Beshenivsky: Man appears in court charged with murder

Piran Ditta Khan appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky

A 74-year-old man has appeared in court accused of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago.

Piran Ditta Khan was charged over the 2005 shooting of the 38-year-old after being extradited from Pakistan.

PC Beshenivsky had been a police officer for only nine months when she was killed in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Mr Khan appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London on Thursday wearing a blue and white tracksuit jacket.

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.

PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead while responding to reports of a robbery in Bradford in 2005

Mr Khan spoke only to confirm his name in court and listened as he was told his case would be sent to the Old Bailey for a hearing on Monday.

PC Beshenivsky, who had three children and two stepchildren, was shot dead as she and a colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, responded to an alarm at a travel agent in Morley Street, Bradford, on 18 November 2005.

PC Milburn was also seriously injured but survived.

Police officers in Morley Road, Bradford, after PC Beshenivsky was shot in 2005

Mr Khan is charged with robbery of a quantity of cash from Mohammed Yousaf, the owner of the travel agent.

He is also accused of possessing a Mac 10 machine gun, which it is alleged had been modified to fire in a burst with one pull of the trigger, and a 9mm handgun.

Three men were found guilty of murdering PC Beshenivsky in 2007, along with two convicted of manslaughter and a sixth man found guilty of robbery.

Craig Nicholls, chair of West Yorkshire Police Federation, said the officer's death "sent a shockwave not only through West Yorkshire but throughout the world".

He added: "We still mourn the loss of Sharon. She will never be forgotten.

"The persistence to bring to justice all those involved in the murder of PC Beshenivsky has never wavered. I know my colleagues within West Yorkshire will now be watching closely the wheels of justice turning in this case."