One of the defendants in the Sharon Beshenivsky trial confessed to a prison officer that he had cleaned the guns used in the robbery and hidden them in a basement, the court heard today.

Timothy Thurman told Newcastle Crown Court that Raza Ul-Haq Aslam had asked to speak to him when he was admitted to the health care unit at Doncaster Prison.

Mr Thurman said that during the conversation on February 6 this year, Aslam told him he had stayed at the hostel in Harehills Lane, Leeds, on November 18, when three men drove to Bradford, but then they returned he knew something was wrong because they were "hyper".

Aslam told Mr Thurman the men asked him for his help and he saw the guns for the first time.

Mr Thurman said Aslam told him the men asked him to help clean the guns and where they could get rid of them.

Mr Thurman said: "He said he went into the kitchen to help them clean the guns and had then taken the guns across the road from the hostel where he hid them in the basement."

Mr Thurman said Aslam told him he had rung Crimestoppers with the name of one of the three men and where they might find him, but he had done it "purely for the reward".

Aslam had also said he discussed a reward with the police officer when he called the incident room.

Mr Thurman said Aslam had told him he had only told police "90 per cent" and there was another ten per cent he could use if he needed to, like where the guns and the missing man were.

Mr Thurman said he asked Aslam if he did not want the guns to be found and if they had been hidden because they had been used before.

The prison officer said Aslam smirked, shrugged his shoulders and said: "You know how it is."

Yusuf Abdillh Jamma, 20, of Small Heath, Birmingham, Raza Ul-Haq Aslam, 25, of Kentish Town, London, and brothers Faisal Razzaq, 25, and Hassan Razzaq, 26, both of Forest Gate, London, plead not guilty to PC Sharon Beshenivsky's murder.

Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, 25, of London, admits murder and robbery but denies the attempted murder of PC Teresa Milburn. He has also pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and two charges of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Aslam and the Razzaq brothers deny robbery but Jamma has admitted that charge. Aslam, the Razzaq brothers and Jamma also plead not guilty to firearms offences.

The trial continues.

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