Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Body of schoolgirl found with more than 70 injuries, says pathologist

Father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik deny 10-year-old’s murder

Listen: Sara Sharif’s father tells 999 operator he’s killed daughter

Sara Sharif’s body was discovered with 71 recent injuries including bruises, abrasions, skin ulcers consistent with burns, probable bite marks and an incised wound consistent with sharp force trauma on her left arm, a court has heard.

On the third day of her murder trial on Wednesday, jurors were shown graphics outlining a string of injuries found on the 10-year-old’s body, with a pathologist also detailing skeletal injuries.

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 schoolgirl’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.

Key Points

• Schoolgirl suffered at least 71 fresh injuries although true total unknown, jury told
• Pathologist details string of bruises, burns and injuries found on Sara Sharif’s body
• Sara Sharif’s head covered with ‘home-made hoods’ of plastic bags and parcel tape, court told
• Pictured: Note found by Sara’s body saying ‘It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
• Police officer recalls finding Sara’s body under neatly placed white sheet

[14 October 2024 17:00 · Holly Evans]

Sara Sharif timeline leading to arrest

[14 October 2024 16:12 · Holly Evans]

Trial adjourns for the day

The trial of Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother and uncle has been adjourned for the day and will resume on Tuesday at 10.30am.

[14 October 2024 15:50 · Holly Evans]

Defendants seeking to ‘deflect the blame’ onto one another

The prosecutor told the jury that all three defendants “played their part” in the violence and it was “inconceivable” that just one of them had acted alone.

Mr Emlyn Jones KC said: “Each of them denies that they were the one responsible for any of that violence and abuse.

“Each of them seeks to deflect the blame onto one or both of the others, to shift responsibility away from themselves, onto someone else.

“In other words, they are pointing the finger at each other.”

Jurors were told Sharif’s case was that his wife, Batool, was responsible for Sara’s death and his confession was false to protect her.

Batool accused Sharif of being a violent disciplinarian and she was fearful of her husband, while Malik’s case is that whoever was responsible it was not him and he was unaware of what was going on.

[14 October 2024 15:08 · Holly Evans]

Schoolgirl had suffered ‘disturbing’ bite marks

Sara Sharif was “beaten” with objects and had suffered from human bite marks on her lower left arm and inner thigh, the court heard.

An examination of the 10-year-old’s body also found a “pattern of injuries” and “signs of traumatic brain injury”, the prosecution said.

Regarding the leg injury, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said it had “marks which indicated that the teeth had been dragged across the surface and with central bruising probably the result of suction.”

While Sharif and Malik had provided dental impressions for comparison which had ruled them out, Batool had refused to do so.

Other injuries included to Sara’s ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 separate fractures to the spine, Mr Emlyn Jones said.

Sara had suffered a ‘campaign of abuse’ (Surrey Police/PA) (PA Media)

[14 October 2024 14:51 · Holly Evans]

Beinash Batool described Sara’s death as an ‘incident’

Following media interest in Sara’s death, Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool appeared in a video clip which was shared and broadcast with Sky News.

In the short clip, Battol described her stepdaughter’s death as an “incident”.

She then went on to a “litany of complaints” about the conduct of the Pakistani police and their investigation.

She explains, at the end of the clip, that they have gone into hiding because they fear the police; but, she said, they were willing to comply with the UK authorities and to “fight our case in court”.

They were arrested a week later after boarding a flight to Gatwick on 13 September.