Sara Sharif’s father – who is accused of her murder – has told jurors he “takes full responsibility” for the death of his daughter.

Minicab driver Urfan Sharif, 42, called police in the early hours of 10 August last year saying he had beaten her “too much” for being “naughty”, the court previously heard.

The 10-year-old’s body was found in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, with dozens of injuries, including bruises, burns, broken bones and bite marks, after he and the rest of the family had fled to Pakistan.

Sharif is on trial alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, at the Old Bailey in central London.

They all deny murder and an alternative charge of causing or allowing her death.

Sharif said he had initially taken responsibility to save his family, but giving evidence in court blamed his wife for killing his daughter, saying he was out working when she was abused.

He told jurors on Wednesday: “I accept every single thing.”

He made the admission under cross-examination from Batool’s barrister Caroline Carberry KC as his wife sobbed in the dock.

Ms Carberry asked him about a handwritten note left next to his daughter’s body in which he wrote: “Love you Sara.

“Whoever see this note it’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating. I am running away because I am scared but I promise that I will hand over myself and take punishment.”

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Ms Carberry asked if he did kill his daughter by beating and Sharif replied: “Yes, she died because of me.”

She suggested: “In the weeks before she died she suffered multiple fractures to her body, didn’t she, and it was you who inflicted those injuries?”

“Yes,” Sharif replied, before accepting causing Sara’s injuries apart from the burn and bite marks.

“I take responsibility. I take full responsibility,” he said, admitting to causing at least 25 fractures by hitting Sara with a cricket bat or pole and breaking her hyoid neck bone.

Ms Carberry said: “I suggest on the night of the 6 August you badly beat Sara.”

Speaking barely above a whisper in the witness box, Sharif replied: “I accept everything.”

After a short break, Ms Carberry asked: “Do you accept that you killed her by beating her? Do you accept you had been beating Sara severely over a number of weeks?

“Do you accept using the cricket bat to beat her? Do you accept using the cricket bat as a weapon on her on a number of occasions? Do you accept that you used that cricket bat on her with force?”

Sharif replied: “Yes ma’am.”

He also agreed when asked if he hit her intending to cause Sara “really serious harm” – the legal definition of murder.

Ms Carberry said: “You have pleaded not guilty to the offence of murder. Would you like that charge to be put to you again?”

Sharif replied: “Yeah,” but following a break the cross-examination continued as he insisted: “I didn’t intend to kill her.”

The barrister suggested: “When you confirmed earlier today you beat her to death and you intended to cause her really serious harm that was an admission to the offence of murder.”

Sharif said: “I did not want to hurt her. I didn’t want to harm her.”

Ms Carberry asked: “Do you accept that your beating of her caused her death?”

“Yes,” said Sharif.

But this time he answered “no” when she asked him: “Do you accept by beating her in the way that you did you intended to cause her really serious harm?”

The trial continues.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ordered his department to carry out a review of the costs of potentially changing the law to legalise assisted dying.

Mr Streeting, who intends to vote against a landmark bill on the issue, has warned that a new assisted dying law could come at the expense of other NHS services if it is implemented.

It comes as MPs weigh up whether to vote for a change in the law when given the opportunity to do so later this month.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would give terminally ill people with six months to live the choice to end their lives.

There has been much debate about the bill since its details were published on Monday evening, including that the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and that people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.

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Ms Leadbeater, who has the support of former government minister Lord Falconer and ChildLine founder Dame Esther Rantzen, believes her proposed legislation is the “most robust” in the world and contains safeguards she hopes will “reassure” those who are on the fence.

They include that two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and that a High Court judge must give their approval.

The Labour MP has argued the fact terminally ill patients will have to make the choice themselves and administer the drugs themselves “creates that extra level of safeguards and protections”.

However, several cabinet ministers – including Mr Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who would be responsible for the new law – have spoken out against the legislation.

Announcing the review, Mr Streeting said: “Now that we’ve seen the bill published, I’ve asked my department to look at the costs that would be associated with providing a new service to enable assisted dying to go forward, because I’m very clear that regardless of my own personal position or my own vote, my department and the whole government will respect the will of parliament if people vote for assisted dying.”

While the health secretary has warned of the potential cost downsides for the NHS, his critics have pointed out there may be potential savings to be made if patients need less care because they choose to end their own lives – something Mr Streeting branded a “chilling slippery slope argument”.

“I would hate for people to opt for assisted dying because they think they’re saving someone somewhere money – whether that’s relatives or the NHS,” he said.

“And I think that’s one of the issues that MPs are wrestling with as they decide how to cast their vote.

“But this is a free vote – the government’s position is neutral.”

Speaking to reporters after delivering a speech to the NHS Providers conference in Liverpool, Mr Streeting said there were “choices and trade-offs” and that “any new service comes at the expense of other competing pressures and priorities”.

“That doesn’t mean people should vote against it on that basis,” he said.

“People need to weigh up this choice in the way that we’re weighing up all these other choices at the moment.”

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MPs will debate and vote on Ms Leadbeater’s Private Member’s Bill on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015.

The government has given MPs a “free vote” on the issue, meaning they will be able to vote according to their conscience and without the pressure to conform to party lines.

In 2015, a bill by former Labour MP Rob Marris that would have made it legal for the terminally ill to end their lives was defeated in the Commons by 330 votes to 118.

The jobs of more than half of the workforce at the DIY chain Homebase are at risk after the retailer’s owners called in administrators following a failed attempt at a sale.

Sky News reported earlier on Wednesday that around 1,500 people were set to keep their roles as 75 of the 130 stores were set to be snapped up by the saviour of Wilko in a so-called pre-pack deal.

The Range, also a general merchandise specialist, was confirmed as the buyer later in the day.

Teneo, which is handling the process, is understood to have been working to find a buyer for as many of the chain’s sites as possible.

Teneo said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that up to 70 stores were confirmed to be included in the deal – saving up to 1,600 jobs out of 3,600.

It leaves 2,000 jobs at risk.

Forty-nine other stores will continue to trade while alternative offers are explored.

Sources told Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman that there had been many expressions of interest in the remaining stores, despite the gloom being felt across the retail sector over the higher tax take demanded in the budget.

The sector has warned of higher inflation and job losses arising from the measures, which include increased employer national insurance contributions and minimum wage levels.

The pre-pack deal – which typically allows a buyer to cherry-pick the assets it wants – brings to an end a six-year ownership of Homebase by Hilco, the retail restructuring specialist.

Teneo had initially been attempting to find a buyer for the whole Homebase business.

The partial sale comprises all those stores in the Republic of Ireland and the Homebase brand and its e-commerce business.

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The Range is part of CDS Superstores, which is controlled by the businessman Chris Dawson – nicknamed “the Del Boy billionaire” because of the distinctive number plate on his Rolls-Royce Wraith.

Last year, it paid £7m to buy the brand and intellectual property assets of Wilko, which had collapsed into administration.

Since then, Mr Dawson has opened a string of new Wilko outlets.