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British child killer Urfan Sharif
British child killer Taxi driver Urfan Sharif is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his daughter’s murder alongside Sara’s stepmother and uncle.
A “high pitched scream” was heard two days before 10-year-old Sara Sharif was killed and her family fled to Pakistan, jurors have been told.
Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his daughter’s murder alongside Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.
Police found Sara’s body in a bunk bed in her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 last year following a call from Sharif in Pakistan saying he “beat her up too much” for being “naughty”, the court has heard.
Elizabeth Cook court sketch
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of family members of Sara Sharif (left to right) Beinash Batool (stepmother), Faisal Malik (uncle) and Urfan Sharif (father) appearing in the dock at Guildford Magistrates’ Court, at a previous hearing.
Sara’s father, uncle and stepmother (pictured) are on trial at the Old Bailey over her death (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Physical, emotional and sexual abuse
It is alleged Sara had died two days before following a campaign of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and within hours, the defendants had booked a flight out of the country.
A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered dozens of injuries, including “probable human bite marks”, an iron burn and scalding from hot water.
Forced to wear nappy and tortured
There was also evidence that she had been restrained with her head covered with “homemade hoods” comprised of parcel tape and plastic bags, and she had been made to wear a nappy in some sexualised torture, jurors have heard.
Fingerprints allegedly belonging to her father, Urfan Sharif, were found on one of the bags that was tested by forensics and on the non-adhesive side of a bit of parcel tape.
Blood on Vacuum cleaner
Traces of the 10-year-old’s blood were discovered on the kitchen floor and on objects, including a vacuum cleaner and a cricket bat, during a police search of the family home, the prosecution said.
The court heard that expert analysis of some of the child’s bruises concluded that they could have been caused by a pole or the buckle of a belt.
Beaten with a rolling pin
More than one rolling pin was found with Sara’s DNA on as well as a brown leather belt, which also had traces of her uncle’s and father’s DNA, the prosecution said.
A neighbour told police that two days before Sara’s death, she had heard a “single high-pitched scream” which lasted a couple of seconds and then suddenly stopped.
Her last piercing single scream
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said: “It sounded to her like the scream of someone in pain. As she put it, ‘it didn’t sound good’.”
Jurors heard other neighbours from when the Sharif family lived in West Byfleet and later in Woking had heard screams, smacking and crying.
The court heard that Rebecca Spencer heard sounds of “banging and rattling” as if someone was trying to get out of a door that would not open.
Neighbours let Sara’s torture happen
She allegedly told police: “On the occasions that I would hear these banging and rattling sounds, they would often be accompanied by the sounds of a child crying or a screaming, followed by complete silence.
Sara Sharif, whose father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik are on trial at the Old Bailey charged with her murder (Surrey Police/PA)
“On those occasions, I can only describe the silence as deathly quiet, and I cannot even imagine what had happened to make the crying or screaming child become immediately so silent.”
Ms Spencer also described bangs from inside the Sharif’s flat like someone had been hit or smacked, the court was told.
Mr Emlyn Jones doesn’t call social services
Mr Emlyn Jones said she considered reporting it to social services but ultimately decided against it thus enabling Sara’s death.
Shut the f* up” and “Go to your room, you f*ing bastard
In March 2020, another neighbour, Chloe Redwin, allegedly heard children screaming and the mother shouting, “Shut the f* up” and “Go to your room, you f*ing bastard”.
She told of loud smacking followed by “gut-wrenching screams” of a young girl and the mother shouting “shut up”, jurors were told.
The court heard Sara appeared to have many household chores, including taking the bins out each week and hanging up washing.
University student and part-time McDonald’s worker Faisal Malik moved in in December 2022 and was present when screaming and slapping was going on, according to Ms Redwin.
Wearing a hijab to cover the bruises
From last January, Sara began to wear a hijab to school, which the court heard was unusual as she had never worn one before and neither did anyone else in the family.
Sara Sharif’s body was found under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking (Surrey Police/PA)
Mr Emlyn Jones suggested: “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.”
Jurors heard of concerns about Sara’s injuries at her school before she was home-schooled last April, four months before her death.
Her teacher does not report the bruises
The school recorded Sara had a bruise under her left eye in June 2022 and then in March 2023, a bruise on her chin and a dark mark on her right eye.
The school contacted Children’s Single Point of Access for advice, and it was agreed that a referral to social services was needed, Mr Emlyn Jones said.
Sara’s clearly untrained teacher, Helen Simmons, described her as a “happy child” who sometimes would be “sassy”.
When she asked Sara about bruises last March, she gave conflicting explanations and pulled her hijab to hide her face.
The RING doorbell is missing
Mr Emlyn Jones also told jurors about an “odd detail” in the case – the absence of a Ring doorbell camera at the family home when Sara’s body was found.
He told jurors: “There was a Ring doorbell at the house. There is evidence of it being purchased on July 11 2023.
“What is odd about this is that when the police searched the property, it had been removed. Its bracket is still there, and it is fitted to the exterior by the front door. But you can also see that the device itself had been removed.
“You might want to ask yourselves why that would have been done and what its removal might tell you about the presence of mind of whoever removed it.”
The defendants of Hammond Road in Woking have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16, 2022, and August 9 2023.
UPDATE 13.12.24
Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother have been convicted of murdering the 10-year-old before to their flight to Pakistan.
Sara passed away on 8 August of the previous year and was discovered two days later in a bunk bed at her residence in Woking, Surrey, following a contact to the police from Urfan Sharif, 42, who had absconded to Pakistan with his family.
In the weeks preceding her demise, she endured restraint, bludgeoning with a cricket bat, scorching with an iron, and biting in a “brutal” campaign of maltreatment, as shown at the Old Bailey.
The minicab driver wept during the call, confessing, “I have killed my daughter” and stating, “I physically assaulted her excessively” because “she was disobedient,” further asserting, “I administered lawful punishment, and she perished.”
Authorities discovered a handwritten three-page note concealed beneath Sara’s pillow, in which Sharif inscribed “Love You Sara” and “I killed my daughter by beating.”
“I am fleeing due to fear, yet I assure you that I will surrender and accept the consequences,” it stated. “I assure you that my intention was not to terminate her life, but I lost control.”
Sharif, his spouse Beinash Batool, aged 30, and his sibling, McDonald’s employee Faisal Malik, aged 29, accompanied by five children, were recorded on CCTV at Heathrow Airport, when they embarked on a trip to Islamabad the day following Sara’s demise.
During their concealment, Sara’s father and stepmother provided a video statement to Sky News, in which they referred to Sara’s death as a “incident” and expressed their readiness to collaborate with UK authorities and contest their case in court.
Sharif, Batool, and Malik were apprehended upon their return to Gatwick Airport on 13 September, and all three entered pleas of not guilty to the charge of murder and an alternative charge of causing or permitting the death of a child.
Sharif and Batool have been convicted of Sara’s murder. Batool was audible weeping in the dock following the judgement.
Malik was acquitted of murder but convicted of causing or permitting the death of a child.
Judge Mr. Justice Cavanagh announced that he will impose sentencing on them next Tuesday, informing jurors that the case had been “profoundly stressful and traumatic.”
Sharif was arrested based on charges from three Polish women, including Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, between 2007 and 2010, concerning domestic abuse and threats to kill; however, he was never formally charged.
Sara was born in 2013; however, her parents separated shortly thereafter in a contentious divorce, with mutual allegations of abuse arising throughout the custody dispute.
In 2019, the family court ultimately granted custody to Sharif, who had divorced Sara’s mother and subsequently married Batool.
Residents of their modest unit reported hearing “excessively loud” noises of slapping accompanied by “agonising screams”.
Last year, they relocated to a three-bedroom residence on Hammond Road, Woking, alongside Malik and six young children, when a new neighbour, Judith Lozeron, remarked that the family was unusually quiet.
She informed Sky News that she perceived Sara as being regarded as “somewhat of a servant” due to her observations of Sara performing tasks such as hanging out the laundry and supervising other children.
“That is not appropriate behaviour for a 10-year-old,” she stated.
“I never witnessed her smile.” I never observed her running, laughing, or engaging in any activities in the garden with the others.
Prosecutors indicated that Sara began using a hijab to conceal her injuries, and the court was informed that she was withdrawn from school in April 2023 after educators observed bruises on her face and referred her to social services; nevertheless, the matter was dismissed after six days.
A schoolmate reported observing locks on the bedroom doors during her visit to Sara’s for playtime.
“She was exuberant and extroverted, frequently expressing her desire to move to Los Angeles and pursue a modelling career when she matured,” she informed Sky News.
She stated that Sara informed her of having fallen off her bike when she arrived at school with facial wounds and bruises, adding: “She may have sustained injuries on her legs or arms, but I could not observe them as she wore long-sleeved tops beneath her T-shirts and leggings under her skirts.”
Sara’s headteacher, Jacquie Chambers, described her as a “very caring, very confident little girl” with the “cutest, biggest smile” who “absolutely loved singing and dancing.”
She stated that Sara frequently expressed her aspiration to win The X Factor, and the school has subsequently established a singing award in her honour.
“Her cheerful disposition is what makes this truly heartbreaking.” She was an exceptionally unique individual,” she stated.
I have never experienced such profound sadness, and I express this sentiment on behalf of the entire staff and community. The shock was very tremendous.
Sara sustained over 70 injuries, including “probable human bite marks,” 25 fractures, and cerebral haemorrhaging, with her cause of death attributed to “complications arising from multiple injuries and neglect.”
Prosecutors asserted that all adults in the residence bore responsibility for Sara’s death, as one or two could not have perpetrated the abuse without the complicity or assistance of others, and none intervened to provide aid.
Sharif first asserted that all the assault occurred during his work hours, attributing it to his “malevolent and unstable” wife.
However, her barrister Caroline Carberry KC proposed that she was “vulnerable” and a victim of “honour-based abuse,” which elicited an unexpected admission from Sharif in the witness stand as he confessed to killing his daughter through physical assault.
Sharif informed the jury that he assaulted Sara with a cricket bat while she was restrained with packing tape, strangled her with his hands, struck her in the head with a cell phone, and also struck her with a metal pole while she lay dying.
I am willing to assume whole responsibility. “I accept all charges,” he stated before requesting the murder charge to be reiterated.
Following a break, Sharif maintained his innocence on the accusation, stating: “I did not intend to harm her.”
He also refuted the allegations of administering the bites and burns, while both Batool and Malik opted not to provide testimony.
Surrey Police announced that an inquiry and a safeguarding review will investigate if Sara was neglected by the police, social services, the judiciary, or the educational system in the years and months preceding her death.
Following the verdicts, Detective Chief Inspector Craig Emmerson stated outside the Old Bailey that the case had “shocked and horrified” many globally.
He stated that Sara’s youthful existence was terminated by “brutal abuse” and “unspeakable violence” perpetrated by Sharif and Batool, which Malik “failed to prevent”.
“The murder of a child is profoundly shocking; however, the appalling abuse Sara endured throughout her brief life renders this case especially unsettling,” he stated.
Libby Clark, a specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), stated: “Sara was a cheerful, extroverted, and vivacious child, characterised by her constant laughter, who was tragically abused and murdered by those nearest to her.”
None of us can fathom the horrific and savage nature of Sara’s treatment during the final weeks of her little existence. The injuries sustained by her were utterly horrific.
UPDATE 18.12.24
A UK court on Tuesday handed life sentences to the father and stepmother of a murdered 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl who died after being subjected to a prolonged “campaign of torture” and “despicable abuse”.
Urfan Sharif, 43, and Beinash Batool, 30, will serve at least 40 and 33 years respectively for the killing of Sara Sharif, who had suffered years of horrific violence since the age of six.
London’s Old Bailey court heard her body was found covered in bites and bruises with broken bones and burns inflicted by an electric iron and boiling water.
Passing sentence, judge John Cavanagh said Sara had been subjected to “acts of extreme cruelty” but that Sharif and Batool had not shown “a shred of remorse”.
They had treated Sara as “worthless” and as “a skivvy”, because she was a girl. And because she was not Batool’s natural child, the stepmother had failed to protect her, he said.
“The stress, pain and trauma that this campaign of violence will have caused to Sara is hard to contemplate,” he told them, his voice shaking at times.
“This poor child was battered with great force again and again.”
Sara had been beaten with a metal pole and cricket bat and “trussed up” with a “grotesque combination of parcel tape, a rope and a plastic bag” over her head.
A hole was cut in the bag so she could breathe and she was left to soil herself in nappies as she was prevented from using the bathroom.
Sara was found dead in her bed in August 2023 at her empty family home. A post-mortem examination revealed she had 71 fresh injuries and at least 25 broken bones.
Cavanagh described Sara as a “beautiful little girl full of personality” who had been “feisty” and loved to sing and dance.
The day she died, Sharif hit Sara twice in the stomach with the metal leg of a high-chair as she lay unconscious on her stepmother’s lap.
Sharif and Batool were found guilty last week after a 10-week trial.
Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death. He was jailed for 16 years.
Sara’s birth mother, Olga, said in a statement to the court that her daughter is “now an angel who looks down on us from heaven”.
“To this day I can’t understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child,” she added.
Police called the case “one of the most difficult and distressing” that they had ever had to deal with.
The day after Sara died, the three adults fled their home in Woking, southwest of London, and flew to Pakistan with five other children.
Her father, a taxi-driver, phoned the police from Islamabad to report Sara’s death, having left behind a handwritten note saying he had not meant to kill his daughter.
After a month on the run, the three returned to the UK and were arrested on the plane after landing. The five other children remain in Pakistan.
There has been anger in the UK that Sara’s brutal treatment was missed by social services after her father withdrew her from school four months before she died.
Sharif and his first wife, Olga, were well-known to social services.
In 2019, a judge decided to award the care of Sara and an older brother to Sharif, despite his history of abuse.
Her teacher told the court how she later arrived in class wearing a hijab, which she used to try to cover marks on her body which she refused to explain.
Around March 2023, after seeing injuries on her face, Sara’s school referred the case to child services, who probed the incident but did not take any action.
In April 2023, Sharif told the school that from then on Sara would be homeschooled.
Addressing Sharif, the judge said his treatment of his daughter was “nothing short of gruesome” and that it was “hard to imagine” the terror she must have felt.
“You fully intended to hurt her and to hurt her badly … You intended that she would have a life filled with pain and misery,” he said.
The case is the latest in a string of child cruelty cases that have triggered public revulsion alongside repeated pledges from authorities to prevent further tragedies.
Under the government’s proposed Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced in parliament Tuesday, parents will lose the automatic right to take their children out of school if authorities suspect the child is at risk.
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