Killer sold guns to criminals after prison release

News imageMet Police Custody photo of Faisal Razzaq, who is wearing a dark collar and light blue clothing underneathMet Police
Faisal Razzaq will be sentenced later this month, alongside five other defendants

One of the men convicted of killing a police officer started selling guns to criminals across London after being released from prison, a court heard.

Faisal Razzaq was jailed in 2006 for manslaughter, having acted as the getaway driver in a robbery which ended in PC Sharon Beshenivsky being shot dead in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

He was released on parole in 2017 after serving 11 years, and started obtaining guns and selling them to criminal customers while living in Edgware, north London.

He is one of six people to be sentenced later this month at Harrow Crown Court for involvement in a firearms conspiracy.

News imagePA/Met Police Composite image of police portrait image of Beshenivsky wearing her police uniform, looking straight at the camera smiling, and her memorial in Bradford.PA/Met Police
Faisal Razzaq started selling guns after finishing his sentence for his involvement in the murder of police officer Sharon Beshenivsky in 2005

Also due to be sentenced are Patrick Loughnane, 59, brothers Robert and Ricky Dorey, aged 45 and 44, Abdul Saleh, 32, and Tammy Rigg, 40, who agreed to store a converted firearm at her home.

Razzaq previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell or transfer banned guns, possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and two counts of possessing a firearm and ammunition when banned.

Prosecution barrister Alisdair Smith said Razzaq played a central role in the conspiracy by co-ordinating the obtaining, and then the distribution, of prohibited firearms and lethal ammunition.

Razzaq, the Dorey brothers and Saleh were involved in the sale of 10 revolvers in one month alone.

The court heard that Razzaq told his contacts he would sell weapons "to anyone".

He also told Saleh that if the police attempted to detain him he should not hesitate to shoot at them in order to escape, saying: "I don't care where you shoot but you've got to shoot bro."

Judge Hannah Kinch will sentence the six on 23 October.

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