Sara Sharif trial murder latest: Schoolgirl’s head ‘covered with homemade hood’ in weeks before death
Fingerprints allegedly belonging to 10-year-old’s father Urfan Sharif found on one of bags, second day of trial hears
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Sara Sharif’s head was covered with “homemade hoods” made of plastic bags and parcel tape in the weeks before her death, a court has heard on the second day of her murder trial.
The Old Bailey also heard on Tuesday that 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, jurors were told 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 an address on Hammond Road in Woking on 10 August last year.
The court heard on Monday that the child was found with “disturbing” injuries that included bitemarks, scalding and broken bones in what was described as a “campaign of abuse”.
Urfan Sharif, 42, is standing trial before Mr Justice Cavanagh alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29.
The defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to Sara’s murder and to causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.
Jurors hear 999 call made by Sharif
In a harrowing phone call that lasts over eight minutes, jurors heard Urfan Sharif reporting his daughter’s death to Surrey Police, telling them: “I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her but I beat her up too much.”
He can be heard crying down the phone, pleading with officers to visit the address and saying: “Can you send someone, my daughter is alone.”
Asked what had happened, he said: “I think she was naughty over the last three, four weeks and I was giving her punishment to sort her out and I did something and she died.”
When asked if she was breathing, he said: “I tried to resuscitate her I tried to give her CPR everything but I failed, I panicked.
“She is dead I am telling you.”
He adds that he will return to the property and told the operator: “It happened 36 hours ago, I’m a cruel father.”
Prosecution say all three defendants are ‘responsible’ for her death
The court heard that at the “heart of this case lies a simple but depressing truth” - a young girl had died after being subjected to serious violence.
Outlining the Crown’s case, Mr Emlyn Jones KC said: “The prosecution case is that it is inconceivable that one of the adults alone, or two of them, could have carried out what amounts to a campaign of abuse without the complicity, participation, assistance and encouragement of the others.
“None of them ever reported Sara’s abuse to any outside agency, who could have intervened; Sara’s medical records tell us that none of the injuries she received was ever reported, or shown to a doctor, or to staff at her school; no outside help was called.
“None of the defendants did anything to prevent what was happening to Sara, as they surely would have done if they had not been complicit in what was happening.
“The prosecution case is that they are all responsible for her death, and they are all guilty of her murder.”
Schoolgirl had suffered ‘appalling’ and ‘brutal’ abuse for weeks
Detailing the injuries Sara had suffered, Mr Emlyn-Jones KC said that an examination of her body had revealed a “terrible truth”.
He told the Old Bailey: “When Urfan Sharif said, in that call, ‘I beat her up’, he came nowhere near to describing the extent of the violence and physical abuse Sara had suffered; not just at the time of her death, but repeatedly, over time.
“She had been the victim of assault and physical abuse for weeks and weeks, at least.”
This included dozens of separate injuries both externally and internally, extensive bruising, burns, and broken bones.
“So no, Sara had not just been beaten up. Her treatment, certainly in the last few weeks of her life, had been appalling; it had been brutal. And throughout, these three defendants were the adults living in the house where Sara had lived; where she had suffered; and where she had died,” he said.
Note found next to Sara’s body
Jurors heard that after providing the address, police attended the address in Woking which was “quiet and seemingly empty”.
“In an upstairs bedroom, on a bottom bunk bed, the police found the body of a little girl, lying in bed, under the cover, as if asleep. But she was not asleep. She was dead. Her name was Sara Sharif, and she had been just ten years old when she was killed,” Mr Emlyn-Jones KC said.
A note was discovered next to her body in Urfan Sharif’s handwriting, which read: “It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating”, and “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it”.
He had also written that he was running away as he was “scared”.
Urfan Sharif called Surrey Police to say ‘I’ve killed my daughter’
Opening the prosecution’s case, Mr Emlyn Jones KC said: “We need to cast our minds back to Thursday 10th of August 2023, last summer. That Thursday, at 2.47am in the morning here in the UK, a call was made to the Surrey Police. The caller was the first defendant Urfan Sharif. His call to the police lasted for eight-and-a-half minutes and a recording of it was made.
“In that call, Urfan Sharif began by asking the operator to take down his address. It’s difficult to hear what he is saying because it sounds like he’s crying. The operator interrupts and says ‘take a deep breath and tell me what has happened’.
He continued: “999 operators are used to hearing all kinds of dreadful things, but this one cannot have expected the answer he got to that question. Urfan Sharif told him ‘I’ve killed my daughter’. He used an odd expression: ‘I legally punished her, and she died.’
“A little later, when asked for more detail, he added ‘she was naughty’, and then ‘I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much’.”
Trial begins
The jury in the trial of Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik have entered the courtroom at the Old Bailey.
Prosecutor William Emlyn-Jones KC is now expected to open the prosecution’s case against Mr Justice Cavanagh.
All three deny murder charges
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to her murder and to causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16 2022 and August 9 2023.
Last week, a jury was selected in the trial of Sharif, Batool and Malik, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking.
The prosecutor is expected to open the trial this morning.
In pictures: Sara Sharif
How long will the trial last?
All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to her murder and to causing or allowing the death of Sara Sharif between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.
The jury was selected last week with prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC due to open the case on Monday at the Old Bailey.
The trial before Mr Justice Cavanagh is due to go on until 13 December.
Sara Sharif trial to begin
Urfan Sharif, 42, her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of killing 10-year-old family member Sara.
They are all standing trial over her death.
The child’s body was found at her home in Surrey on 10 August.
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