PC Sharon Beshenivsky's killer who spent 15 years on the run died in jail from natural causes, coroner rules

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 11:01 EDT, 26 August 2026 | Updated: 11:03 EDT, 26 August 2026 A gangleader jailed for the murder of a policewoman died in prison from natural causes nine months into his 40-year sentence, a coroner has ruled.Piran Ditta Khan, 76, fled to his native Pakistan after PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead in Bradford during an armed robbery on November 18, 2005.He was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2020 following 15 years on the run and extradited to the UK in 2023.Khan was jailed for life for the murder of PC Beshenivsky, a mother-of-three, in May 2024 - becoming the final member of the seven-man gang involved in the armed raid at the Bradford travel agents to be convicted.But he was pronounced dead on the afternoon of February 21 2025 at HMP Wakefield due to complications from lung cancer, less than a year into his sentence.Assistant coroner Naomi McLoughlin has now ruled Khan died from natural causes.She listed his cause of death as bronchial pneumonia 'in association with' multiple strokes and cancer of his right lung.The 20-minute hearing was told Khan was being treated for stage-four lung cancer when he was taken to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield in February 2025 suffering from what turned out to be a stroke. Piran Ditta Khan spent 15 years on the run in his native Pakistan after fleeing the UK shortly after the murder PC Sharon Beshenivsky had been an officer for just nine months when she was shot while responding to reports of the armed robberyThe coroner noted the strokes could well have been caused by the cancer. Doctors decided his cancer was too advanced for any rehabilitation work in hospital to have made a difference, so Khan was returned to prison where he received palliative care until his death 10 days later.The coroner told a hearing on Wednesday she had a statement from Khan's son, Shabaz Khan, which said the imposition of the 40-year sentence had 'taken its toll' on his father.The coroner said Mr Khan described how his father had always maintained his guilt in relation to the robbery but had pleaded not guilty to murder and was found guilty 'by association'.The court heard Khan was born in Pakistan, came to the UK in his early teens and was married with five children.He smoked around 10 to 15 cigarettes a day.PC Beshenivsky was murdered on her daughter's fourth birthday while interrupting a robbery at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire.She and colleague PC Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the raid as the gunman emerged from the door of the business. 'Wanted' posters were placed in the UK and Pakistan as authorities attempted to locate Khan, who was eventually jailed for life in 2024In April 2024, Khan became the last of seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted.He was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of murdering PC Beshenivsky, as well as two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.In May 2024, Mr Justice Hilliard jailed Khan for life with a minimum term of 40 years.During his trial, jurors heard Khan was the only one of the group familiar with Universal Express and he had used the firm to send money to family in Pakistan.He flew to Pakistan two months after Pc Beshenivsky's death and remained there at liberty until he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in January 2020 and extradited to the UK in 2023.During sentencing, the judge told Khan: 'You will inevitably spend the remainder of your life in custody but that is a consequence of sentencing a man of your age for a crime of this particular gravity.'In a statement to the court in 2024, Paul Beshenivsky, who had been married to PC Beshenivsky for four years when she died, said: 'The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and futile way.'She never came home due to the actions and organisation of one person - Piran Ditta Khan.'