Two men have been locked up for sheltering one of PC Sharon Beshenivsky's desperate killers, knowing he was one of Britain's most wanted criminals.

Adrian Robinson, 24, and Hewan Gordon, 36, helped cold-blooded murderer Muzzaker Shah evade capture, prolonging the agony for PC Beshenivsky's family and hindering a nationwide police hunt, a court heard yesterday.

Robinson was jailed for four years and Gordon for 18 months. They had both pleaded guilty to aiding a murderer with intent to impede his arrest, knowing him to be guilty of a very serious offence.

PC Beshenivsky's widower, Paul, of Hainworth, near Keighley, said the two men had got what they deserved.

"What they did added to what we were going through," he said. "The police said they would catch the people responsible but we were left waiting and that was made worse by these two.

"They are as bad as the people who committed the crime. A normal, decent person would not have done that. They wasted a lot of police time and effort.

"No sentence would be long enough for them, just as it could not be for Shah. But at least they have been locked up. Hopefully it will make other people think twice about harbouring serious criminals in this way."

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan, who led the murder investigation, said Gordon and Robinson must have been fully aware they were assisting one of the country's most wanted men to evade arrest and justice.

He added: "There can be no other penalty for such a blatant disregard for the judicial system than to serve time in prison. This should be a warning to anyone else considering helping someone to evade the law not to get involved - you will only end up getting yourself in serious trouble."

Judge Stephen Ashurst told Leeds Crown Court that one of the most serious crimes of recent times took place on November 18, 2005.

He said PC Teresa Milburn and PC Beshenivsky were shot while doing their duty to protect the public from a serious crime.

PC Beshenivsky was killed and not only did her family suffer grief, but the nation was outraged by the shocking nature of the crime.

The judge warned that those who assist offenders do so at their peril.

He said Robinson, who went to school with Shah, played the major role.

"Muzzaker Shah was no doubt a desperate man and he turned to you, an old friend, for help," the judge told him.

The court heard that Robinson helped Shah move from his home estate in London to Newport, South Wales.

For two weeks Robinson prevented the capture of a dangerous criminal, putting Shah above himself and his own family.

Gordon helped Shah to change addresses in Newport when the police were closing in on his flat.

Prosecutor Jonathan Devlin told the court the case arose from the armed robbery at the Universal Express Travel Agents in Morley Street, Bradford, at 3.15pm on November 18.

A member of the public saw the three robbers driving off and took a partial registration number. The vehicle was found abandoned in London only hours later and DNA and fingerprint evidence linked it to the robbers.

Yusuf Jamma was arrested eight days later in Birmingham and his brother, Mustaf, appeared to have got out of the country.

National alerts were put out about the wanted men and Shah became one of the most hunted people in Britain.

He initially went to London to the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale, North London, where he grew up.

He contacted Robinson who was a fellow member of a gang called the Thug Family.

Robinson helped Shah to relocate to Newport where he first lived in a flat occupied by Gordon, who then fixed Shah up with a new address in the city.

On December 11, the flat was surrounded by police and Shah was arrested in the street nearby the next day.

Harold Baker, for Gordon, said he had simply made a very bad mistake and got involved with something far more serious than he thought it was.

Stephen Vullo, Robinson's barrister, said that he did not succeed in helping Shah escape justice. He had no knowledge or involvement in the Bradford shootings and his motivation was misplaced loyalty to an old school friend.

Shah, 26, and Yusuf Jamma, 20, of Birmingham, were told they would serve at least 35 years in jail for PC Beshenivsky's murder, at the end of a trial in Newcastle last December.

Brothers Hassan and Faisal Razzaq, who were convicted of manslaughter, were jailed for a minimum of 20 and 11 years respectively.

Raza ul Haq Aslam, 26, of Halifax, was cleared of murder but jailed for eight years for robbery.

Shah and Faisal Razzaq were on bail for firearms offences at the time of the murder.

Police are still hunting Mustaf Jamma and Piran Ditta Khan, who are believed to have fled abroad, in connection with the shootings.