BRITAIN: Policewoman tells how an armed robber shot her
Date: Oct 19, 2006 8:45 AM
PUBLICATION: The Daily Telegraph
DATE: 2006.10.19
PAGE: 009
SECTION: News
BYLINE: Paul Stokes
WORD COUNT: 615

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I saw the man raise his right hand. I saw the end, a hole in the end of
the gun. I heard a bang
Policewoman tells how an armed robber shot her in the chest after
killing colleague

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A POLICEWOMAN choked back tears yesterday as she described the
“terrifying” moment she stared down the barrel of a gun which had
just
killed her colleague.

Pc Teresa Milburn survived being shot through the chest as Pc Sharon
Beshenivsky, 38, lay dead on the pavement in front of her.

She told Newcastle Crown Court how she saw an Asian male and a black man
in the doorway of a travel agency where an armed robbery had just taken
place.

Pc Milburn told the jury: “It happened so quickly, I was slightly behind
Sharon. I heard a bang.

“Sharon fell to the ground. I got a view of the Asian male. I saw he had
a gun in his right hand pointing to where Sharon had been stood.

“I saw the Asian male raise his right hand horizontally from right to
left. I saw the end, a hole in the end of the gun, I heard a bang.

“It was pointing directly at me. I felt immense pain and I realised I
had been shot. It spun me round to the left.”

The court heard how she “staggered” down the road and eventually
managed to activate a panic alarm on her police radio to make a “Code
Zero” emergency call before slumping to the ground.

Pc Milburn, 38, an officer for 18 months, said: “I was laying on the
floor. I was coughing up blood. I could feel blood running down my nose,
blood all over my face and I was gasping for breath.”

While on the ground she noticed a warrant card hanging over her which
she believed to be that of Pc Martin Kitson who had just arrived at the
scene.

She told the court: “I said Martin, get a pen and paper and write this
down and I gave him a description of the male that shot Sharon and shot
me – Asian male, 5ft 8ins, 5ft 10ins, light-coloured Asian male.”

Pc Milburn estimated she had seen the killer for around four seconds.
“Time seemed to stand still in that situation,” she added.

The West Yorkshire policewomen were nearing the end of their day shift
patrolling central Bradford in a marked car when they responded to a
radio message on Nov 18 last year.

An alarm had been activated at the Universal Express travel agents in
Morley Street about five minutes from where they were.

As they arrived two city council street wardens indicated something was
wrong because the door to the premises was locked.

Pc Milburn, who is 5ft 2ins tall, said she and Pc Beshenivsky were
wearing “stab vests”. She said she was about a stride behind Pc
Beshenivsky as they were confronted by the two men in the doorway.

Pc Milburn sobbed as she recalled: “It happened so quickly, I was stood
slightly behind Sharon. She was covering the left side, I saw a glimpse
of him and I heard a bang. I could see the right hand side of the Asian
male. I could see his forearm and his arm from his elbow to his hand was
extended 90 degrees pointing to where Sharon had been stood. I saw in
his hand he had a gun. It was a black, small gun in his right hand
pointing to where Sharon had been standing. It was a pistol about five
inches to six inches in length.”

Diana Ellis, QC, for the Asian man, Muzzaker Shah, suggested to Pc
Milburn that she was mistaken when she said it was the Asian man who
shot her and her colleague.

The barrister put it to her that it was the black man who was
responsible for the shooting to which she replied: “That’s incorrect. I
have made no mistake whatsoever, I’m positive.”

Shah, 25, of no fixed address, denies the attempted murder of Pc
Milburn, but admits being involved in the murder of Pc Beshenivsky,
robbery and four firearms offences. It is acknowledged he was the Asian
man involved, but he denies he was the person who shot the two
policewomen.

Yusuf Jama, 20, from Small Heath, Birmingham, admits robbery, but denies
murder and the four firearms offences. Raza ul-Haq Aslam, 25, from
Kentish Town, London, Hassan Razzaq, 26, and his brother Faisal, 25,
both of Forest Gate, London, deny murder, robbery and the four firearms
offences.

The hearing continues.