Sara Sharif’s father told police ‘I’ve killed my daughter’ after fleeing to Pakistan, court hears
Sara Sharif’s father told police “I’ve killed my daughter”, claiming “I legally punished her, and she died,” after fleeing to Pakistan, a court has heard.
Urfan Sharif dialled 999 in the early hours of 10 August last year, when he and the rest of his family were already thousands of miles away.
Sara Sharif, 10, had suffered dozens of injuries, including bruising, burns and broken bones when her body was found in an upstairs bedroom on a bottom bunk bed in her home in Woking, Surrey.
The Old Bailey heard she had been beaten with objects, strangled, tied up, burnt with an iron and even bitten in the weeks before her death.
In an eight-and-a-half minute phone call played to jurors, minicab driver Sharif, 42, was heard crying before he told the operator: “I’ve killed my daughter”.
He also said: “I legally punished her, and she died,” adding “she was naughty”, and: “I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much”.
Prosecutors say Sara was killed on 8 August, before Sharif and his family spent more than £5,000 to fly to Pakistan the following day, landing on 10 August.
Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik. Pics: Surrey Police
Police later found a note in his handwriting by her body, next to her pillow, which said “Love you Sara” on the first page.
“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,” it said.
“I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her but I lost it. My daughter is Muslim. Can you bury her like Muslim may be. I will be back before you finish the post-mortem.”
But prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said Sara had been subjected to repeated serious violence over a significant period of time and his claim came “nowhere near to describing the extent of the violence and physical abuse Sara had suffered”.
Sharif is on trial with his wife and Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 28.
They each deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023 and will blame each other, the court heard.
Sara Sharif
Pic:Surrey Police
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“At the heart of this case lies a simple but depressing truth. A little girl, a 10-year-old girl, was found dead in her home,” said Mr Emlyn Jones.
“She had been the victim of assault and physical abuse for weeks and weeks, at least,” he said.
“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, living in the house where Sara had suffered and living in the house where Sara died.”
‘Catalogue of dreadful mistreatment’
The prosecutor warned jurors to “take something of a deep breath” before outlining the “catalogue of dreadful mistreatment”.
This included 11 separate fractures to her spine, breaks to both hands and evidence of incidents of manual strangulation over a period of six weeks.
“There are other, perhaps even more disturbing, types of injury,” he said.
“The evidence shows that Sara appears to have been bitten.”
Mr Emlyn Jones said experts found “probable human bite marks” and while both men on trial had been excluded, Batool had refused to provide a dental impression.
Burns to her buttocks are believed to have been caused by a domestic iron, while other injuries indicate she was tied up, the court heard.
Prosecutors say all three played their part in the violence and mistreatment that resulted in Sara’s death and it is “inconceivable” that one of them could have carried out so much abuse without the others knowing.
The jury was told Sharif will claim he made a “false confession” to protect his wife, who will say he was a “violent disciplinarian” who she was afraid of.
Malik, who worked part-time at McDonald’s, is expected to say he was not aware of the abuse.
The trial continues.
Large groups of youths have been throwing fireworks, bricks and bottles at police in Edinburgh, during a night of disorder across the city.
Video posted online shows officers responding to Bonfire Night incidents in the Sighthill, Niddrie, Gracemount and Gilmerton areas.
Riot police have been seen on the streets of Edinburgh, wearing helmets and carrying shields, as fireworks were lit and exploded around them.
Footage from Gilmerton, a suburb in the southeast of the city, also showed burning debris in the street as youths rode on bicycles.
Police in Edinburgh were deployed to several areas, including the suburb of Gilmerton
Police were given extra stop and search powers in certain areas following “intelligence” about planned disorder and firework-related crime.
Superintendent Neil Wilson said: “We are currently responding to incidents of disorder involving large groups of youths throwing a range of objects, including fireworks, bricks and bottles, across Edinburgh.”
A helicopter was also deployed as part of Operation Moonbeam, aimed at supporting local police in tackling fireworks-related offences.
Officers used shields to take cover from fireworks
Meanwhile Lothian Buses withdrew all services from the Niddrie area for safety reasons.
Niddrie was also the scene of disorder on 31 October, when police and public transport vehicles were pelted with fireworks and bricks.
Youths rode on bicycles near officers, as debris burned in the street
On Tuesday, officers in Glasgow seized a “significant quantity” of fireworks from a van in the Drumchapel area which it is alleged were being “sold to the general public, including children”.
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Scotland’s first fireworks control zones (FCZ) are in place in parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow from 1 to 10 November.
Those convicted of setting off a firework within a FCZ face a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six months in jail.
Meanwhile, it appears the famous Lewes bonfire night celebrations in East Sussex went off without incident after police urged people not to attend because of overcrowding concerns.
Effigies of Nigel Farage and Paula Vennells were burnt in Lewes Pic: PA
The so-called “bonfire capital of the world” is famous for burning effigies of controversial politicians and celebrities.
This year they included former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The Queen is unwell with a chest infection and has withdrawn from her engagements this week, Buckingham Palace has announced.
A palace spokesperson said Camilla’s doctors “have advised a short period of rest” and added that “with great regret, Her Majesty has therefore had to withdraw from her engagements for this week”.
They added the Queen “very much hopes to be recovered in time to attend this weekend’s Remembrance events as normal”.
“She apologises to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result,” they said.
It is understood the Queen is currently resting at home and is under doctor’s supervision.
Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, has stepped in on Camilla’s behalf to attend the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.
The Queen has also withdrawn from a Buckingham Palace reception for Olympic and Paralympic athletes hosted by the King on the same evening.
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Camilla recently returned from an overseas tour of Australia and Samoa. No further details regarding her illness or treatment have been released.
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