A MAN has denied murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years after she was shot dead.
The 38-year-old was gunned down and killed during a bungled armed robbery at a travel agent in Bradford on November 18, 2005.
Piran Ditta Khan was extradited to the UK from Pakistan earlier this year.
The 74-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court today where he pleaded not guilty to murder.
Ex-bouncer Khan also denied two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
One of the guns was a fully automatic MAC-10 sub-machine gun while the other was a 9mm pistol, the court was told.
He admitted robbing Mohammed Yousaf for an unknown amount of cash in Bradford on the same date as Sharon’s killing
Khan, who used a Punjabi interpreter, was remanded into custody ahead of a provisional trial date of February 12.
PC Beshenivsky had only been a police officer for nine months when she was blasted in the chest on what was her youngest daughter Lydia’s fourth birthday.
The bullet tore through her stab-proof vest, hit a rib, punctured her aorta artery and damaged her spine – causing her chest to fill with blood.
At the time, she was only the second policewoman to be killed on duty in the UK.
Her partner, PC Teresa Milburn, was also shot but survived.
Five men have been jailed in connection with her killing but alleged ringleader Khan fled and went on-the-run in Pakistan.
Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, Mustaf Jama and his younger brother Yusuf Jama, were all caged for life with a minimum of 35 years over the shooting in 2007.
Hassan Razzaq was also convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison, while his brother Faisal Razzaq was jailed for 11 years for the same offence.
