Robber guilty of Beshenivsky murder

Yusuf Abdillh Jamma
Yusuf Abdillh Jamma, one of the two men convicted of PC Sharon Beshenivsky's murder. Photograph: West Yorkshire police
A 20-year-old man was today found guilty of the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot dead at point blank range following a bungled armed robbery at a travel agency.

A jury at Newcastle crown court unanimously found Yusuf Abdillh Jamma guilty of the murder of the 38-year-old mother in Bradford city centre on November 18 last year.

A few hours later today, two brothers, Faisal Razzaq, 25, and Hassan, 26, were found guilty of her manslaughter by a majority of 10-1 by the jury, who cleared them of murder.

A fourth man, Raza Ul-Haq Aslam, 25, was cleared of murder, manslaughter and four firearms offences. After more than 20 hours of deliberations, the jury is yet to give a verdict on a charge of robbery against him.

Jamma, of Small Heath, Birmingham, had admitted firing the fatal shot but had denied murder, saying he did not intend to kill or harm anyone.

He admitted to the jury last month that he "must have" pulled the trigger of a gun three times, though he said he did not know who shot at Ms Beshenivsky and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn, who was seriously injured.

Today, the jury convicted Jamma of murder after more than 17 hours of deliberations in the 11th week of the trial. He showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out.

Jamma was also found guilty of possessing a MAC-10 machine gun and a 9mm pistol with intent to endanger life. Earlier in the trial, he admitted two counts of possessing the firearms and robbery. The Razzaq brothers, both of Forest Gate, east London, were both cleared by a majority of the jury of possessing a MAC-10 sub-machine gun and a 9mm pistol with intent to endanger life.

A fifth man, Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, 25, pleaded guilty earlier to Ms Beshenivsky's murder, robbery, and related firearms offences. Earlier in the trial, the judge, Mr Justice Andrew Smith, ordered the jury to clear Shah of the attempted murder of Ms Milburn, 37. Nobody else has been charged with her attempted murder.

Shah, of London, was told he would play no further role in the trial and was not in court today.

During the trial, Jamma repeatedly denied the prosecution's suggestions that his version of events was a lie "to try to help Muzzaker Shah get off the attempted murder of PC Milburn".

Jamma said: "I just remember hearing me pulling the trigger, sort of thing."

He denied he intentionally discharged the gun, or that he knew it was real and loaded.

Two other men, Mustaf Jamma and Piran Ditta Khan, remain on the run. The court heard that Mr Khan was the "architect of the robbery".

Ms Beshenivsky was shot and killed as she arrived at the scene of the Universal Express travel agency on the day of her youngest daughter's fourth birthday. The robbers escaped with just over £5,000.

Mr Aslam, of Kentish Town, north London, had told the court he had no part in the robbery or murder and was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time". He said he believed he was entitled to a £100,000 reward for helping police catch PC Beshenivsky's killers. He had called the television programme Crimestoppers and passed on information after the officers were shot.

Mr Aslam insisted the first he knew of the officer's murder was when the gang returned to their base in Harehills Lane, Leeds, where he worked as a handyman.

During the trial, Faisal Razzaq admitted he was around the corner from the travel agency when the shootings took place. He told the jury he and Mr Aslam were having a meal in the Royal Balti Chicken House, in nearby Chester Street, at the time.

The court heard that Faisal Razzaq drove a Toyota Corolla into a dead-end street which backs on to the road where the travel agency is situated at around the time the robbers were fleeing across the street, but he denied he was acting as a look-out.

Hassan Razzaq, the only defendant who chose not to give evidence in the trial, had a "powerful case" against him, prosecutor Robert Smith QC said. The court heard that Hassan Razzaq was involved in a reconnaissance trip to Bradford from London on November 13 last year, five days before the shooting.

The trial continues.