Pc murder accused goes on trial

Mustuf Jama denies murder and firearms offences

A man has gone on trial accused of murdering a police officer during a robbery in Bradford in November 2005.

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, was shot in the chest as she answered an alarm call at a travel agents in the city, with her colleague Pc Teresa Milburn.

Mustaf Jama, 28, admits robbery but denies murder and firearms offences.

Newcastle Crown Court heard his brother Yusuf, then 20, and another man, Muzzaker Shah, 25 at the time, had already been convicted of murder.

Pc Beshenivsky had been a serving constable for nine months.

Pc Milburn was also and injured during the raid.

Robert Smith, QC, prosecuting, said Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn were about to end their shift when they responded to a call about a raid at Universal Express travel agent.

He said: "The shooting was deliberate, it was callous and unnecessary, and it was done with the intention of killing both officers.

"It was significant that they were both shot in the chest at close range.

'Dangerous men'

"The three men were armed with a 9mm self-loading pistol, a 9mm automatic sub-machine gun, together with a knife.

"They were dangerous men who used violence towards the occupants of the premises."

Mr Smith said the defendant, a Somali, was as guilty of murder as Shah, the man convicted of pulling the trigger, and his brother.

He invited the jury to suppose that carrying loaded weapons during a robbery meant the gang knew there was a likelihood someone might get shot "in the heat of the moment".

'Ducked bullet'

The court heard Mustaf Jama had fled to his native Somalia after the raid.

Mr Smith said: "In due course he was located in Somalia and he was extradited."

Pc Beshenivsky ducked to avoid the bullet which struck her, the jury heard.

The second hit her colleague and Pc Milburn called for back-up on the radio as she lay on the pavement coughing up blood.

The trial continues.