Man extradited from Pakistan and charged with murder of British police officer
A man extradited from Pakistan has been formally charged in connection with the murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford on 18 November 2005.
Piran Ditta Khan, 74, was extradited from Pakistan on Tuesday, 12 April 2023 and after arriving in the UK was taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station, where he was formally charged.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised charges in 2006 against Mr Khan with six offences including, murder, robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. The CPS submitted an extradition warrant in 2006.
He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 13 April 2023.
The extradition was the result of collaborative work between the CPS, Pakistani authorities, West Yorkshire Police and the National Crime Agency.
Joanne Jakymec, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, said: "A suspect wanted in connection with the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in 2005 has been extradited to the UK from Pakistan thanks to the continued hard work of prosecutors in the CPS’s Extradition and International Units.
“Since Piran Ditta Khan was arrested in Pakistan in 2020, our specialist prosecutors have been working closely with our Pakistani partners to complete the legal process in the country so that he could be extradited back to England to face the allegations from almost 20 years ago.”
The CPS would like to remind everyone that criminal proceedings against Mr Khan are live and he has a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
Notes to editors
- Piran Ditta Khan (DOB: 13/10/48) has been charged with murder, robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
- The decision to charge has been made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
- The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.
- The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
- This assessment is based on the evidence available arising out of the police investigation and not on the evidence that is likely to be gathered by the defence, and likely to be used to test the prosecution evidence. The CPS charging decision is therefore necessarily an assessment on the basis of the evidence that is available to the CPS at the time the decision is made.
- CPS prosecutors must also keep every case under review, so that they take account of any change in circumstances that occurs as the case develops, including what becomes known of the defence case. If appropriate, the CPS may change the charges or stop a case.