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
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