Somali gangster jailed for life for killing policewoman Sharon Beshenivsky

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

Mustaf Jama, 29, was told that he would have to serve at least 35 years for the murder of Ms Beshenivsky, the first female police officer killed on duty since Pc Yvonne Fletcher was shot outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.

Jama was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court following a re-trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict at a hearing in January. Sentencing him, Mr Justice Openshaw said he was one of a “team of ruthless and dangerous men”.

Jama was described as Britain’s most wanted man after the raid but used a friend's passport to flee to Somalia, where his father, a former MP, is said to be a warlord. He went into hiding in Somaliland but was brought back to the UK to face justice in 2007 after an undercover operation to smuggle him out of Africa.

Pc Beshenivsky, 38, was a mother of three with two stepchildren. She was shot and killed on her youngest daughter’s fourth birthday as she responded to an alarm call.

Her colleague Pc Teresa 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.

The gang's 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.

Shah was believed to have been the gunman, although 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.

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.
 

Source:TimesOnline