Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Radiologist had never seen 10-year-old’s ‘very rare’ injury on child before
Jury presented with evidence by radiologist as trial of father, stepmother and uncle continues
Sara Sharif had suffered an “extremely rare” fracture in her neck, which a radiologist said he had “never seen” in a child before.
Examinations showed she had an injury to her hyoid bone in her throat, which was likely to have been caused between six to 12 weeks before her death.
Professor Owen Arthurs told jurors that the schoolgirl had suffered “multiple unexplained fractures in 25 locations on the body” which could not have occurred by accident or in a single event.
It comes after jurors at the Old Bailey were told on Thursday that the 10-year-old’s bone marrow had been “unusual” in an examination of her body, which can often be associated with starvation or the rapid removal of nutrition.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, all deny her murder.
Surrey Police discovered the schoolgirl dead in a bedroom at her home in Woking on 10 August last year.
The court heard earlier in the week that Sara’s head was covered with “homemade hoods” made of plastic bags and parcel tape in the weeks before her death.
Jurors were also told neighbour Chloe Redwin would hear “shockingly loud” sounds of “smacking” from their family home followed by “gut-wrenching screams”.
Trial breaks for lunch
The trial has broken for lunch and will resume at 2pm.
How did this happen to Sara Sharif? What we know about the events leading to schoolgirl’s death
Schoolgirl Sara Sharif was hooded, restrained and beaten with a belt buckle and pole in a “campaign of abuse” lasting more than two years before her death, a court has heard.
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his 10-year-old daughter’s murder alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29. All three deny murder and the defence is yet to mount its case.
Police found Sara’s body in a bunk bed in her family home in Woking, Surrey, on 10 August last year, with “disturbing” injuries that included bitemarks, scalding and broken bones.
Read the full article here:
What we know about the events leading to Sara Sharif’s death
Father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik deny 10-year-old’s murder
Fractures to her hand and neck could be linked to 'direct blow’ or ‘manual strangulation’
Detailing her injuries, Professor Freemont said that Sara’s injury to the capitate bone in her left hand was “rare” in children, and was usually caused by “falling onto the outstretched hand or a direct blow to the hand”.
Asked if the fractures to her fingers were unusual, he responded: “They’re seen relatively frequently and they’re commonly associated with pulling the fingers apart.”
Of the fracture to her hyoid bone, he said: “It depends on the setting but in the setting of neck compression, it’s fractured in 25 per cent of cases, the most common type of cases is manual strangulation.”
Sara Sharif had sustained fractures to fingers ‘12 to 18 days’ before death
Sara Sharif had suffered fractures in her fingers and left hand up to 12 to 18 days before her death, the Old Bailey has heard.
She had also suffered a fracture to her hyoid bone in her neck, which is believed to have occurred between six to 12 weeks before she died on 8 August.
Jurors have heard from Professor Anthony Freemont, an osteoarticular pathologist, who examined bones from Sara’s body.
He added that her bone marrow had been “unusual” in his examination, and had shown up with a “bluey tinge” which revealed itself to be gelatinous transformation of the bone marrow. This can often be associated with starvation or the rapid removal of nutrition, although Professor Freemont could not say if this was a direct cause.
Watch: Stepmother of Sara Sharif requests ‘earliest possible’ flights after child’s death
Trial resumes for the fourth day
The trial of Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik has resumed for the fourth day at the Old Bailey.
Jurors are expected to hear evidence from Professor Anthony Freemont, an osteoarticular pathologist.
What trial heard yesterday
- Sara Sharif had suffered more than 70 injuries shortly before she was found dead in her home, the court heard.
- Giving evidence on Wednesday, forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary presented his findings from a post-mortem examination of Sara’s body he carried out on August 15 2023 which took around three hours.
- He gave the girl’s cause of death as “complications arising from multiple injuries and neglect”.
- He said some of Sara’s external injuries, which included dozens of bruises, grazes and burns, were the result of “repetitive blunt trauma” and “blunt impact or solid pressure, or both.”
- He told the more than 71 injuries to the little girl’s body included significant damage internally, including bleeding on her brain, multiple bruises on her lungs and multiple skeletal injuries, jurors heard.
In pictures: Sara’s father, stepmother and uncle stand trial as they deny her murder
Pictured: Note allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body
A note that was allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body in her father’s handwriting has been pictured in court.
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his 10-year-old daughter’s murder alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.
It is alleged within hours of her death the defendants had booked a flight out of the country.
Read the full article here:
Note allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body: ‘Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his 10-year-old daughter’s murder alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29
Schoolgirl Sara Sharif suffered a catalogue of 71 injuries before her death, jury told
Read the full report from the third day of the trial from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin:
Schoolgirl Sara Sharif suffered a catalogue of 71 injuries before death, jury told
The 10-year-old’s injuries were consistent with ‘significant and repetitive blunt force trauma’ with an ‘instrument’, a court heard
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