Sara Sharif’s father has ‘throat slashed with tuna tin’ by HMP Belmarsh inmates

Urfan Sharif was jailed for life in December for years of horrific ‘torture’ that only ended with Sara’s murder

Urfan Sharif has been attacked in prison, according to reports (PA Media)

Sara Sharif’s father had his neck and face cut in prison as he begins a life sentence for her murder, according to reports.

Urfan Sharif was allegedly jumped by two inmates in his cell at HMP Belmarsh armed with the lid of a tuna tin on New Year’s Day, The Sun reported.

The child killer, 43, is not believed to have needed hospital treatment.

Sara Sharif suffered more than 25 broken bones, iron burns, scalding marks and human bites during a campaign of abuse spanning at least two years before her murder (PA Media)

Sources told The Sun: “Urfan was sliced up badly in his cell by two others who rushed in. It was planned and they used a makeshift weapon – made from the lid of a tin of tuna.

“He was sliced in the neck and face, and is still in healthcare and in a very bad way.

“He was lucky to survive, has had to have stitches and will have scars as a permanent reminder of the attack. The guards tried to keep him safe because he obviously had a target on his back after the case was such big news.

Sara Sharif at school (PA Media)

“Sharif has tried to keep his head down since coming into the jail, but word quickly got round about who he was.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Belmarsh on January 1.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.”

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers are probing “an allegation that a prisoner was assaulted at Belmarsh”, adding that “the 43-year-old suffered non life-threatening injuries”.

Sharif and Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, were jailed for life in December for years of horrific “torture” and “despicable” abuse that culminated in the 10-year-old’s murder.

Sara’s father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool were jailed for her murder (PA Media)

The court heard that she suffered “unimaginable pain, misery and anxiety” as she was repeatedly beaten, burned, bitten and restrained at the family home in Woking, Surrey.

Phoning their non-emergency 101 line after fleeing to Pakistan on 10 August last year, Sharif told Surrey Police that he was a “cruel father” who hadn’t intended to kill his daughter but had lost his temper.

Yet it quickly emerged that she had been repeatedly attacked in the months before she was killed. Trapped in the family home in Woking, she was the victim of repeated beatings and scaldings, forced to leave school and carry out laundry chores for her stepmother while wearing a hijab to obscure her growing number of bruises and wounds.

Despite the concerns of neighbours who overheard screaming and crying, and the questions raised by her primary school teachers as to the reason behind her injuries, social services were unaware of the full scale of the brutality the young girl was facing.

After they moved to a semi-detached council house in Woking along with Sharif’s brother Faisal Malik, their new neighbour noticed that Sara was never seen smiling, and was told she was being homeschooled due to being bullied for wearing a hijab.

Sara Sharif was murdered at home by her father and stepmother (PA Media)

Despite Batool’s claims that her decision to wear a headscarf had been due to the girl’s interest in Islam, the prosecution told jurors it was indicative of the need to conceal her injuries.

Sara was found dead in her bunk bed in an empty house, with a handwritten note next to her body reading: “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.”

A post-mortem examination revealed the horrific nature of her death. Sara had endured 71 recent injuries, which included bleeding on her brain, multiple bruises on her lungs, a rare broken hyoid bone in her neck, and a large area of ulceration across her buttocks from an iron burn.

Sharif admitted to throttling her with his bare hands and battering her with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone, even whacking her in the stomach as she lay dying.

Within two hours of her death, the trio had booked flights to Islamabad for the following day, with Batool heard calmly organising the details over the phone with a travel agency.

Upon arriving in Islamabad in the early hours, Sharif alerted the police to his actions and sparked an international manhunt, but failed to return to the UK until over a month later when Pakistani authorities began arresting his wider family to assert pressure.

Sharif was handed a minimum term of 40 years and Batool was given 33 years.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, who was found guilty of causing or allowing her death, was jailed for 16 years.

In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Sara’s death “was the culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as torture”, mainly at the hands of Sharif.

Sara Sharif’s stepmother Beinash Batool, uncle Faisal Malik and father Urfan Sharif appearing for sentencing (PA Wire)

He told Sharif: “Sara was a brave, feisty and spirited child. She was not submissive as you wanted her to be. She stood up to you.

“I have no doubt that your ego and sense of self-importance was boosted by the power you wielded over her and the rest of the family.”