An inquest revealed that Piran Ditta Khan, the orchestrator of an armed robbery in Bradford that resulted in the death of police officer Sharon Beshenivsky in 2005, passed away in prison due to lung cancer shortly after his conviction.
Khan, who had been on the run for nearly 15 years, was sentenced in May 2024 to a minimum of 40 years in prison. He succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 76 on February 21 at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire.
Assistant coroner John Hobson conducted the inquest into Khan’s demise, noting that he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in June 2024 and was receiving chemotherapy. Khan was hospitalized at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield on February 3 for “stroke-like symptoms,” where it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his brain.
Following an eight-day stay at the hospital, Khan was moved to the prison’s medical wing for palliative care until his passing on February 21. The coroner attributed his death to bronchial pneumonia caused by cancer-related cerebral infarctions. A full inquest is scheduled for a later date.
Sharon Beshenivsky was fatally shot during a robbery at a travel agency on her daughter’s fourth birthday in November 2005. Khan, who had fled to Pakistan after the incident, was apprehended in 2020 and later convicted in April 2024 for his involvement in the crime.
At his trial, it was revealed that Khan had prior dealings with the targeted travel agency and had fled to Pakistan immediately after the robbery. He was eventually extradited to the UK in 2023. Khan was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 40 years in May 2024.
Paul Beshenivsky, Sharon’s husband, expressed in court that her loss was a result of Khan’s actions and organization, describing it as a brutal and senseless tragedy.