A POLICE officer broke down in tears as she described to a jury the "terrifying" moment her colleague was gunned down in front of her during a bungled armed raid at a travel agents.

Pc Teresa Milburn, of Birstall, sobbed as she recalled seeing Pc Sharon Beshenivsky's head "flop" to the side before she collapsed in a heap in front of her.

After being blasted in the chest herself, 37-year-old Pc Milburn staggered down the road before collapsing and issuing a "Code zero" alert to summon help, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Coughing up blood, Pc Milburn managed to describe the gunman to officers as they attended the shooting in Morley Street, Bradford, in November last year.

Under cross-examination, Pc Milburn said: "As Sharon was shot, my attention was drawn to Sharon. She fell. As Sharon fell, I got a clear view of the Asian male.

"It was quick but it seemed to me in slow motion.

"My eyes followed Sharon's head falling down. As she fell down, I got a clear view of the Asian male.

"It was the Asian male that had the gun."

Pc Milburn told police just days after the incident: "I didn't even have time to say anything ... I followed her. She blocked my view. I can't see. She stopped. There was an almighty bang.

"I can see her head. It goes to the right, then to the left, and flops.

"Her arms flop to the side. Her body drops in front of me.

"Her knees go to the left and she goes straight down and collapses."

The court heard Pc Milburn gave the same description of events 15 times during eight hours of police interviews in the aftermath of the shootings.

The jury was told CCTV footage showed there was no more than a third of a second between the moment the officers were standing in front of the doorway of the shop to when they were both shot.

Pc Beshenivsky, 38, was shot and killed in the incident at the Universal Express travel agents in Morley Street, Bradford, on November 18 last year.

Yusuf Abdillh Jamma, 20, of Whitmore Road, Small Heath, Birmingham; Raza Ul-Haq Aslam, 25, of St Pancras Way, Kentish Town, north London; Faisal Razzaq, 25, and his 26-year-old brother Hassan, both of Sebert Road, Forest Gate, east London, all deny her murder.

Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, 25, of no fixed address, has pleaded guilty to her murder, but he denies firing the shot that killed her.

He also denies the attempted murder of Pc Milburn.