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Sara Sharif’s head was covered with “homemade hoods” made of plastic bags and parcel tape in the weeks before her death, a court has heard on the second day of her murder trial.
The Old Bailey also heard on Tuesday that fingerprints allegedly belonging to the 10-year-old’s father, Urfan Sharif, were found on one of the bags and a bit of parcel tape.
Earlier, jurors were told 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.
The court heard on Monday that the child was found with “disturbing” injuries that included bitemarks, scalding and broken bones in what was described as a “campaign of abuse”.
Urfan Sharif, 42, is standing trial before Mr Justice Cavanagh alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29.
The defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to Sara’s murder and to causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.
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Pictured: Note allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body saying ‘It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
Note allegedly found by Sara Sharif’s body: ‘Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
Taxi driverUrfanSharif, 42,is on trial at theOld Baileyaccused of his 10-year-old daughter’s murder alongsideSara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 21:44
Sara Sharif began wearing a hijab to conceal her injuries, prosecution suggest
The Old Bailey heard that Sara Sharif began wearing a hijab to school in January 2023 and was the only one in her household to wear one.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury: “The prosecution suggest that the fact that Sara began to wear the hijab at around this time is indicative of the need to conceal injuries to her face and head from the outside world.”
The court heard that Sara’s primary school noticed a bruise under her left eye in June 2022 as well as a bruise on her chin and a dark mark on her right eye in March 2023.
When her year four and five teacher asked Sara about “two distinct bruises” in March 2023, the child “acted coy and tried to hide them”, Mr Elwyn Jones said.
He continued: “[The teacher] observed that Sara would often pull her hijab to hide her face if she did not want to speak or was being told off.
“Sara gave multiple conflicting stories as to how she got the bruises.”
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 21:03
What trial heard yesterday
- The father of Sara Sharif fled to Pakistan after allegedly killing the 10-year-old and called police to say “I legally punished her and she died”, the court heard.
- The Old Bailey was told that Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including “probable human bite marks”, a burn from an iron and scald burns from hot water before her death. A post-mortem examination also revealed she had been “beaten” with objects and had suffered damage to the brain, jurors were told.
- Opening the trial on Monday, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said all three defendants had played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara leading to her death.
- He said police found Sara’s body in a bunk bed in her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 last year after her father called police at 2.47am and confessed to killing her. During the eight-and-a-half minute call, he told the operator: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.”
- On arrival at Hammond Road, police found the property was quiet, very tidy and seemingly empty before discovering the body next to a note in her father’s handwriting, Mr Emlyn Jones said. The note allegedly stated: “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.”
- 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.
- 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, Mr Emlyn Jones said.
- Malik’s case is that whoever was responsible it was not him and he was unaware of what was going on, the prosecutor added.
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 20:03
Full report: ‘Gut-wrenching screams’ and note that read ‘I lost it’: Sara Sharif jury told of campaign of abuse
Read the full report on the second day of the trial from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin:
‘Gut-wrenching screams’ and note that read ‘I lost it’: Sara Sharif trial
Police discovered the schoolgirl’s blood on a cricket bat and bruises on her body matched a metal pole found in an outhouse, the court heard
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 19:22
Sara Sharif’s father sobbed as he confessed to killing his daughter, court hears
Sara Sharif’s father sobbed as he confessed to killing his daughter, saying “I’m a cruel father” in a phone call to police, the court heard.
During the call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, the taxi driver can be heard crying as he confessed to killing his daughter, refusing to reveal his location and saying he would hand himself in to Woking police station.
In the phone call, played to jurors on Tuesday, an emotional Sharif asked the operator to write down his address, spelling out his postcode, and telling them to “send someone” to his home on Hammond Road, Woking.
In the recording, Sharif said Sara had been “naughty” over the last three to four weeks and he was “giving her punishment” to “sort her out”, adding “I did something and she died”.
Earlier in the call, the operator can be heard asking Sharif “is everything okay?” to which he responds: “Nothing is okay.”
At one point, Sharif can be heard getting so emotional that the operator says he cannot understand what he is saying and tells him to “take a deep breath”.
Sharif continued: “I did legally punish my daughter and she died.
“I left the home in a panic.
“I killed my daughter. I killed my daughter.”
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 19:02
Listen: Sara Sharif’s father tells operator he’s killed daughter in harrowing 999 call
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 18:39
Neighbour heard ‘single high pitched scream’ two days before Sara died, court told
Neighbour heard a “single high-pitched scream” of “someone in pain” two days before Sara Sharifdied, jurors were told.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said neighbours who spoke to police after the 10-year-old’s death said “they had never seen or heard anything which caused them any concern”.
However, a woman had recalled that “she heard a noise that she considered very much out of the ordinary run of the noise from a family house” on 6 August 2023, the prosecutor said.
He continued: “It was a single high-pitched scream, which lasted a couple of seconds and stopped suddenly.
“It sounded to her like the scream of someone in pain, as she put it ‘it didn’t sound good’.”
The prosecution allege Sara died two days later on 8 August last year and the defendants flew to Pakistan the following day.
Jabed Ahmed15 October 2024 18:02
Pictured: Note found by Sara’s body saying ‘It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter’
A note that was found by Sara Sharif’s body in her father’s handwriting has been pictured in court.
On arrival at the 10-year-old’s family home, police found the property was quiet, very tidy and seemingly empty before discovering her body next to a note in her father’s handwriting, the Old Bailey heard.
The note allegedly stated: “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.”
Tara Cobham15 October 2024 17:18
Stepmother told sister Urfan Sharif beat Sara ‘black’ in messages dating back to 2019
Sara Sharif’s stepmother told her sister if “something happens to Sara I will not be able to forgive myself” in messages documenting two-years of abuse, the court heard.
Beinash Batool had blamed her husband Urfan Sharif for beating the 10-year-old “black” in a series of WhatsApp messages dating back to 2019, the Old Bailey was told.
In May 2021, she messaged her sister: “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara. She’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black.
“I feel really sorry for Sara, poor girl can’t walk. I really want to report him.”
However the prosecution allege Ms Batool, 30, minicab driver Mr Sharif, 42, and his brother Faisal Malik, 29, all played a part in Sara’s death.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told jurors: “As a minimum, it shows that Sara was being hurt and injured as long ago as spring of 2021 - so that is more than two years before her death - and that Beinash Batool was aware and even on her version of events, she didn’t stop it.”
In February 2022, the court heard she told another sister that Mr Sharif was “beating Sara up ... ‘cos she’s being naughty”, adding: “Something happens to Sara I will not be able to forgive myself.”
That summer Ms Batool complained that she could not cover up the bruises, saying: “He beat Sara up yesterday and I can’t send her to school on Monday looking like that.”
Sara was taken out of school in April 2023 and died four months later.
Amy-Clare Martin15 October 2024 16:17
Police officer recalls finding Sara’s body under neatly placed white sheet
Police constable George Van Der Waart told the court he was dispatched to the Sharif family home shortly before 3am on 10 August, following Mr Sharif’s 999 call.
Giving evidence, he said he entered through an unlocked rear door and found the downstairs clean with no signs of any disturbance.
He discovered Sara’s body on a bunk bed in an upstairs bedroom with a fan switched on, he added.
“There was a blanket on the bed and…underneath the white sheet I could see a human shaped figure,” he told the Old Bailey. “I pulled back the cover and underneath was the body of a 10-year-old girl.”
He described her as being “placed” on the bed, where she was lying on her back. Asked about the sheet, he added: “It was neat on top literally like it had been laid there.”
Amy-Clare Martin15 October 2024 15:50
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