THE trial of Piran Ditta Khan heard of the horror that unfolded inside the travel agents where PC Sharon Beshenivsky would be killed outside shortly after.
Khan, 75, of no fixed abode was convicted of the murder of the 38-year-old police officer at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, almost 20 years after she was killed on the pavement outside Universal Express Travel, in Morley Street.
PC Beshenivsky, alongside her colleague PC Teresa Milburn, responded to a call on her force vehicle radio after a panic alarm was set off inside the travel agents by a staff member on November 18, 2005.
They pulled up opposite the building and headed over from their car with two street wardens who had spotted suspicious activity going on inside.
Within 30 seconds, both officers were shot "at almost point blank range" on the pavement just outside Universal Express, as three armed robbers fled the building.
They were: Muzzaker Shah, and brothers Mustaf Jama and Yusuf Jama.
PC Beshenivsky's injury was "immediately fatal", while PC Milburn desperately activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood.
She survived after hospital treatment.
Both were shot with a 9mm self-loading pistol, which the criminals concealed in a laptop bag on entering the travel agents before the robbery began.
The murder weapon has never been recovered but police did find the MAC-10 submachine gun and large knife that were also carried in the same bag on that day.
The laptop bag was part of a sophisticated getup Shah and the Jama brothers donned in order to not alert suspicion and to be permitted into the premises, the court heard.
This plan was masterminded by Khan, who was sat in a car with driver Hassan Razzaq round the corner from Universal Express while the robbery was underway, communicating the operation.
There was another vehicle containing Faisal Razzaq and Raza Ul-Haw Aslam, who kept a lookout from a nearby street.
Robert Smith KC, for the prosecution, said Khan alone knew the location of the premises in question and its interior.
He had used Universal Express Travel's services five times to send money to his brother in Pakistan between 2001 and 2005, and thought money was left on premises due to the wire transfer nature of the business.
The three men tasked with carrying out the robbery entered the travel agents "dressed for the occasion".
Two had suits on and the third was wearing a smart white shirt with a jacket.
Mr Smith said: "This conduct was a result of knowledge and the need to present themselves as respectable to be permitted into the premises."
This was because it had an entrance area that could be seen from the main lobby, and access was only granted from inside via an electronic door.
Once inside, the trio headed to the counter and Aqeel Khokhar, a member of the family who owned the business, spoke to them.
They asked for the price of a flight with Pakistan Airlines and after being told to sit down, before some back and forth chatting, the terrifying ordeal began, the court heard.
Mr Smith said: "Muzzaker Shah nodded to one of black males and produced the black machine gun and cocked it.
"This man then jumped onto the counter, the other two men also jumped onto the counter."
He added: "Aqeel Khokhar saw one of them had a knife and another was holding a handgun.
"The staff were pushed into a small office and told to lie on the floor."
Shah demanded money and said they were not leaving until they had at least £40,000, the court heard.
On the premises was £5,405.
A staff member came from the kitchen and told the gang money was not kept there and "everything had been banked that day", the court heard.
The armed robbers began to tie the staff up with cable ties they had brought in the laptop bag, and threatened, assaulted, and treated them "brutally".
Waqas Yousaf, another family member, was struck on the head with a gun and began to bleed, while another man and Mr Khokhar were also attacked.
Both guns, which were not permitted unless the holder was authorised by the government, were loaded with live ammunition, the court heard.
Shah demanded access to the safe in the building and Mr Yousaf did this but it was empty.
Mr Yousaf eventually managed to press two silent panic buttons at 3.24pm.
The Jama brothers and Shah had obtained what money they could and made to leave, abandoning the knife and black laptop bag.
One of the three robbers then discharged the machine gun, a weapon which only fired automatic when triggered, but it jammed after the first round was started, with the bullet hitting a wall in the premises.
Seconds later, PC Beshenivsky and PC Milburn intercepted the men at the door, which is when the officers were shot with the pistol that had remained in the hands of one of gang.
Shah pleaded guilty to murder in October 2006 before a jury was sworn in for five of the group involved that day.
Yusuf Jama was found guilty of murder in December 2006.
Mustaf Jama was found guilty of murder in July 2009 after being brought back from Somalia where he fled to.
All three men were sentenced to life and ordered to serve at least 35 years in jail.
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