A POLICEMAN whose colleague was gunned down in West Yorkshire wants to see his killer sent back to America and executed.

Pc Neil Roper, who was himself shot in the back twice by gunman David Bieber, said: "I would press the button myself."

The West Yorkshire traffic officer spoke out just weeks after the murder of another colleague, mother-of-five Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, 38. She was shot dead in Bradford by robbers who also wounded Birstall officer Teresa Milburn, 37.

American Bieber, 39, is serving life in jail for murdering Pc Ian Broadhurst, 34, who lived in Birkenshaw.

Bieber shot the officer through the head at close range in Leeds on Boxing Day 2003.

Pc Roper, who was the dead officer's patrol car partner, believes the punishment was nowhere near harsh enough.

He said: "People say he's going to be locked up for the rest of his life and he's going to die in prison. That's not enough - I know Ian would think the same if he was here now.

"If someone's guilty, then I believe it should be an eye for an eye. They should have sent Bieber back to America - and let them deal with him.

"Then they should have put him a room and pressed the button. That would be justice."

Pc Roper said hearing about Pc Beshenivsky's murder brought back all the painful memories of Ian's death.

"My heart goes out to Sharon's family. I know only too well what they are going through."

Pc Roper, 47, was behind the wheel of their patrol car on that Boxing Day - and it was his decision to stop Bieber and challenge him about the fake tax disc.

He said: "I felt this sense of guilt afterwards.

"I kept thinking if I'd turned left instead of right then things would have turned out differently.

"I tried telling myself it was one of those terrible things - that it wasn't my fault.

"But it didn't help that I was alive and Ian was dead."

Surgeons had to remove part of Pc Roper's bowel and intestine and he suffered permanent nerve damage to his right arm.

But he does not think officers should be armed as a matter of routine, adding: "I did not join the police 20 years ago to carry a gun. Even though my mate was murdered, I feel the same."