'Ruthless' police killer faces 35-year minimum

A gangster who fled to his native Somalia after taking part in a robbery in which police officer Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead was jailed for life today.

Mustaf Jama, 29, was told he would serve at least 35 years for the murder of the mother-of-three.

Jama was part of a gang that gunned down the popular officer and wounded her colleague, Pc Teresa Milburn, during the raid in Bradford in November 2005.

Sentencing him, judge Mr Justice Openshaw said he was one of a "team of ruthless and dangerous men".

Jama was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court following a re-trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict at a hearing in January.

He fled to his native Somalia despite being Britain's most wanted man at the time using a friend's passport.

He was finally brought back to the UK to face justice in 2007 after an undercover operation to smuggle him out of Africa.

Pc Beshenivsky, 38, who also had two stepchildren, was shot and killed on her youngest daughter's fourth birthday as she responded to an alarm call.

Her colleague Pc Milburn was also gunned down in the street as the robbers escaped with little more than £5,000.

Jama was one of three raiders who entered the premises, believing that up to £100,000 could be inside.

The thugs terrified staff with a pistol and machine gun but panicked when they saw police outside.

Ringleader Muzzaker Shah and Jama's younger brother Yusuf were caught soon afterwards and both were jailed for life for murdering the officer, and must serve at least 35 years each.

It was believed Shah was the gunman, though Yusuf Jama claimed he fired the shots.

The prosecution said even if Mustaf Jama did not fire the bullets, he was "as much guilty of murder" as the gunman.

Three other gang members who did not enter the travel agents were jailed for a range of offences.

Piran Ditta Khan, the 60-year-old architect of the robbery, disappeared afterwards and remains at large, believed to be in Pakistan.

Pc Beshenivsky was the first woman police officer to be shot and killed on duty since Pc Yvonne Fletcher was gunned down outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.

As the jury returned the guilty verdict, Pc Beshenivsky's widower, Paul, comforted Pc Milburn in the public gallery.

Jama remained unemotional as he was convicted of all the charges but made an aggressive hand gesture towards the police gathered in the public gallery.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Openshaw criticised the defendant for putting the dead officer's family through another trial following that of his brother and Shah because he fled to Somalia.

"His flight has made it necessary for the victims, including of course the family of Sharon Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn and, indeed, the victims of the robbery to go through the distressing ordeal of a second trial."

The judge said, although there were flaws, the robbery was well planned "and executed with ruthlessness".

It was "inconceivable" there would not have been a detailed briefing about the firearms to be used before it took place, he said.

Each of the three men who entered the travel agency was equally responsible for the terrible consequences that day.

The judge expressed sympathy to the dead officer's widower, Paul.

He said: "The impact that the murder of Sharon Beshenivsky has had upon him and their five children will no doubt continue to be felt for the rest of their lives."

He also took into account the grave effect it had had on Pc Milburn, who is still a serving officer.

Paying tribute to the female officers, the judge said: "They only did their duty and paid a terrible price."

No mitigation was offered on behalf of the defendant, who did not visibly react when the minimum term was set.