PC shot dead didnt have chance, colleague says

A police officer shot dead during an armed robbery "didnt have a chance," her injured colleague has said.

PCs Sharon Beshenivsky and Teresa Milburn were shot at point-blank range in Bradford in November 2005.

Almost two decades on Piran Ditta Khan is on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of murder and four firearm offences. He denies the charges.

PC Milburn, who survived the attack after being shot in the chest, gave evidence to the court on Wednesday.

PC Beshenivsky was 38 when she was killed outside Universal Express in Morley Street, Bradford.

Leeds Crown Court has heard seven men were involved in carrying out the raid, with alleged ringleader Mr Khan the last to face trial.

Now 75, he went to Pakistan two months after the robbery and evaded arrest until he was detained by Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.

Prosecutors say that although he was not one of the three men who carried out the robbery, and did not leave the safety of a Mercedes SLK that was allegedly being used as a lookout car, he is guilty of PC Beshenivskys murder due to his "pivotal" role in planning the raid knowing that loaded weapons were to be used.

On Wednesday, jurors heard a witness statement from PC Milburn, who described PC Beshenivsky stopping "in terror" as she approached the door of Universal Express and saw the gunman.

PC Milburn said she "instinctively followed Sharon" and was several steps behind her when the robber fired his first shot.

She described seeing PC Beshenivsky collapse and an Asian man emerge from the doorway pointing the gun towards her.

She said she "felt immense pain and knew straight away I had been shot".

"The force of the second shot spun me round," her statement added.

"The force was unbelievable."

PC Milburn managed to radio for help and gave a description of the man to her colleagues as she lay on the pavement coughing up blood.

Her statement continued: "I was in extreme pain, I was still spitting blood. I thought stay awake.

"My radio was covered in blood and so was the floor where I had been coughing constantly.

"My body was shaking, I felt like going to sleep and giving in."

PC Milburn said a colleague told her the first ambulance was going straight to PC Beshenivsky, and "I knew then she was in a bad way".

The officer said she was "terrified" when she was shot, and that she and PC Beshenivsky "didnt have a chance".

"If he had waved the gun, if he had given us some warning we would have just gone, but there was no warning. No indication he had a gun, it was just: bang, bang.

"Sharon stopped in terror. The man had no need to shoot us, none whatsoever.

"If he had waved that gun I would have run off up that road and so would Sharon, but we werent given a chance."

Jurors have heard that of the seven men, Mr Khan was the only one who was familiar with Universal Express after using the business to send money to relatives in Pakistan.

Mr Khan denies murder, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

The trial continues.

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