Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Extent of injuries found on 10-year-old’s body revealed by pathologist
A pathologist found skin ulcers consistent with burns and bruising around her neck and torso
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Sara Sharif’s body was discovered with “tram track features” that suggested she had been hit with an object, as well as purple bruising around her neck and torso.
Jurors have been shown graphics outlining a string of injuries found on the 10-year-old schoolgirl’s body, with a pathologist explaining that skin ulcers consistent with burns were also found.
The Old Bailey previously heard her head was covered with “homemade hoods” made of plastic bags and parcel tape in the weeks before her death.
Fingerprints allegedly belonging to the 10-year-old’s father, Urfan Sharif, were found on one of the bags and a bit of parcel tape.
Earlier, the Old Bailey heard neighbour Chloe Redwin, who used to live above the family at a previous address in 2020, would hear “shockingly loud” sounds of “smacking” from their home followed by “gut-wrenching screams”, and thought Urfan Sharif was “conscious of the noise his family made, because on occasions he would apologise for it”.
Surrey Police discovered Sara dead in a bedroom at her home in Woking on 10 August last year.
Urfan Sharif, 42, is standing trial for her murder before Mr Justice Cavanagh alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29.
Pictured: Note allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body saying ‘It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
Full transcript of Sara Sharif’s father’s phone call to police on August 10 2023
Listen: Sara Sharif’s father tells operator he’s killed daughter in harrowing 999 call
The key dates in Sara Sharif’s tragic death after alleged ‘campaign of abuse’
Pathologist details string of bruises, burns and injuries found on Sara Sharif’s body
Jurors at the Old Bailey are being shown graphics outlining a string of injuries found on the 10-year-old schoolgirl’s body.
Dr Nathaniel Cary, who carried out the post-mortem, described finding “intense purplish red bruising” around her neck and torso.
Giving evidence, he said these would have been the result of either “blunt impact or solid pressure, or both”.
He also found bruising with “tram track features” on her torso. This was consistent with “being struck with an elongated object” he explained under questioning from prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC.
“That would produce a tram track type bruise.”
Multiple parallel transverse linear red marks found were also found elsewhere on her body. The expert said suffering a number of strikes was the “simplest explanation” for this type of injury.
The pathologist also found a number of skin ulcers consistent with burns, the jury were told. The injuries were described as a combination of older and fresher marks.
Listen: Sara Sharif's father tells 999 operator he's killed daughter
Who are the defendants?
Standing trial accused of Sara’s murder are her father, Urfan Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool and his brother, Faisal Malik.
All three had been living at the address in Hammond Road, Woking, with the proseuctor arguing it was “inconceivable” that just one of them had acted alone and been unaware of the abuse.
Sara Sharif’s blood found on cricket bat at home, court told
Sara Sharif’s blood was found on a cricket bat and a vacuum cleaner at the family home, jurors at the Old Bailey were told on Tuesday.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC also alleged that bruises found on the 10-year-old’s body matched a belt buckle and plastic-coated metal pole found in an outhouse at the property, where police also found a rolling pin with traces of her DNA.
The schoolgirl was subjected to a “campaign of abuse” and suffered “brutal” injuries in the weeks before she died, it is alleged. All three defendants deny charges of murder and causing or allowing her death.
Stepmother of Sara Sharif requests ‘earliest possible’ flights after child’s death
In pictures: Sara Sharif before her death
Police officer recalls finding Sara’s body under neatly placed white sheet
Police constable George Van Der Waart told the court on Tuesday that he was dispatched to the Sharif family home shortly before 3am on 10 August, following Mr Sharif’s 999 call.
Giving evidence, he said he entered through an unlocked rear door and found the downstairs clean with no signs of any disturbance.
He discovered Sara’s body on a bunk bed in an upstairs bedroom with a fan switched on, he added.
“There was a blanket on the bed and…underneath the white sheet I could see a human shaped figure,” he told the Old Bailey. “I pulled back the cover and underneath was the body of a 10-year-old girl.”
He described her as being “placed” on the bed, where she was lying on her back. Asked about the sheet, he added: “It was neat on top literally like it had been laid there.”
Police bodycam footage from night Sara Sharif's body was discovered
Pictured: Note found by Sara’s body saying ‘It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
A note that was found by Sara Sharif’s body in her father’s handwriting has been pictured in court.
On arrival at the 10-year-old’s family home, police found the property was quiet, very tidy and seemingly empty before discovering her body next to a note in her father’s handwriting, the Old Bailey heard.
The note allegedly stated: “It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.
“I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.
“I am running away because I am scared.”
Recap: What trial heard on Tuesday morning
- Schoolgirl Sara Sharif was made to wear a ‘home-made hood’ of plastic bags and parcel tape, the prosecution allege.
- The 10-year-old’s blood was found on a cricket bat and a vacuum cleaner at the family home, the court heard.
- Bruises found on Sara’s body matched a belt buckle and plastic-coated metal pole found in an outhouse at the property - where police also found a rolling pin with traces of her DNA, the jury heard.
- A neighbour heard a “high-pitched scream” two days before Sara was killed, court told.
- Another neighbour at a previous address claimed she heard “smacking” sounds followed by “gut-wrenching” screams at the family home.
- Sara Sharif began wearing a hijab to school in January 2023 “to conceal injuries to her face and head from the outside world,” the prosecution suggested.
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