"guns are a modern plague on our streets"
The getaway driver for the gang who shot dead PC Sharon Beshenivsky has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in an underworld gun business.
Faisal Razzaq received two concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of eight years after selling firearms and ammunition following his release from prison in connection with the West Yorkshire police officer’s death in 2005.
The 45-year-old operated a luxury car hire business in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and prosecutors said he played a “central role” in the firearms operation.
The investigation uncovered the network after police bugged his car and recorded conversations about selling weapons and using them against officers.
In one conversation, Razzaq told an associate to shoot at police if necessary to escape arrest.
He said: “Feds try and grab you just shoot at the car, shoot in the air. I don’t care where you shoot but you’ve got to shoot bro.”
He was also recorded offering firearms for £4,000 and expressing a willingness to sell them to anyone.
“I’ll sell it to anyone, I don’t give a f*** bro. We’re businessmen… we don’t care.”
The weapons were supplied by Thomas McKenna, who reactivated blank-firing guns at a workshop on a caravan site in South Ockendon, Essex.
Razzaq met Robert Dorey in prison. Dorey and his brother Ricky Dorey subsequently passed firearms to Razzaq for resale, Harrow Crown Court heard.
Prosecutors said the brothers and Abdul Saleh were involved in selling at least 10 revolvers in August 2024. Razzaq also claimed he could access Skorpion submachine guns.
Police raided Razzaq’s home on September 2, 2024, discovering a pistol and eight rounds of ammunition in a bag at the bottom of a makeshift wardrobe.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited firearms, possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and two counts of possessing a firearm and ammunition while prohibited from doing so.
Sentencing him, Judge Hannah Kinch said “it is no exaggeration to say guns are a modern plague on our streets”.
She added: “Criminals use guns in order to terrorise and intimidate others, which is exactly why they are sought out and supplied.
“Guns kill, they maim, they devastate the lives of not only their victims, but also all of those who love and care about those victims.”
Razzaq, from East London, was granted parole on licence in 2017 after serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 11 years.
He had been found guilty of manslaughter for his role in the killing of PC Beshenivsky.
The 38-year-old officer was shot at point-blank range on November 18, 2005, her daughter’s fourth birthday, after she and an unarmed colleague responded to an armed robbery at the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford.
Piran Ditta Khan, who masterminded the robbery, became the seventh man convicted over the shooting when he was found guilty of murder in 2024 following his extradition from Pakistan.
He died in prison aged 76, less than a year after receiving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years.
Five other defendants were sentenced alongside Razzaq for their involvement in the firearms conspiracy.
Ricky Dorey, who also admitted possession of an imitation firearm, driving offences and criminal damage, was jailed for 10 years. His brother Robert received eight years in prison.
Saleh was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years, while Tammy Rigg, 40, received five years and three months. Rigg had agreed to store a converted firearm at her home in South Ockendon and also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition.
Patrick Loughnane, who acted as a communication link between Ricky Dorey and McKenna, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
All five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell prohibited firearms.
McKenna had previously been jailed for 16 years after admitting firearms, explosives and terrorism offences. A court heard that he had stockpiled weapons and discussed preparing for a “race war”.
