'Ultimate sacrifice' Widower of murdered West Yorkshire PC pays tribute 20 years on

Mum-of-five Sharon, 38, was a rookie officer when she was shot while responding to a burglar alarm at a travel firm in Bradford, West Yorks, on November 18, 2005.

She and her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the raid as he emerged from the door of the business. It was later revealed she was killed on her daughter's fourth birthday.

Six men are serving minimum 35-year jail sentences for Sharon's murder.

In 2024, the mastermind of the armed robbery, Piran Ditta Khan, was jailed for life for PC Beshenivsky's murder - becoming the final member of the gang responsible for the raid to be convicted. He had spent nearly two decades evading justice for his part in the killing of PC Beshenivsky.

Khan died in HMP Wakefield aged 76 on February 21 this year. Today, 20 years on, her widower Paul, 63, has paid to his ‘kind and caring’ wife, who he was married to for four years at the time of her death.

The grieving landscaper said: “It doesn’t get any easier – it is always there. It doesn’t seem like 20 years ago. “It doesn’t feel like yesterday but definitely not 20, as you know that is almost a quarter of my life. It is a sad loss and she paid the ultimate price for her service.

“It is a difficult thing. On that morning, no one thought she would be gone, but these things happen. “It has been traumatic for the kids as her death creeps back every year – it will never go away.

“That is just because her death has been in the public eye. Her death hasn’t been private as it is constantly brought back by the press. I find that if anything happens to an officer, we get a call that we don’t want.

“Over the 20 years, her death has been brought back periodically which isn’t a bad thing as she won’t be forgotten. Who knows what we would be doing now if she didn’t die. I might be doing the same things as I’m doing now, but she would just still be around. It is all its and buts and what ifs.”

“I would like her to be remembered for the sacrifice she put forward for being an officer. “And for being the kind and caring person she was.”

Also today, West Yorkshire Police's Chief Constable John Robins paid tribute to the brave officer.

He said: "Sharon made the ultimate sacrifice whilst protecting the public on that fateful day in Bradford 20 years ago. She was just doing her job, serving the public of Bradford when she was murdered in the street. This senseless and totally unnecessary act is deeply ingrained in all of our consciousness.

"Today is a chance to reflect on her life with her family, friends, colleagues and the policing family as a whole.

"Sharon's death still reminds us of the risk that police officers and staff face every day as they work tirelessly to keep our communities safe. Our thoughts remain with Sharon, her family and loved ones.

"We will always remember her."

Sentencing Khan at Leeds Crown Court, Mr Justice Hilliard detailed how the offender had a number of health ailments, including heart disease and back trouble, and said his "physical condition will make custody hard to serve".

He told Khan: "You will inevitably spend the remainder of your life in custody, but that is a consequence of sentencing a man of your age for a crime of this particular gravity."

In a statement to the court, Paul said: "The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and futile way.

"She never came home due to the actions and organisation of one person - Piran Ditta Khan."