Latest Sara Sharif murder case: Dad’s 999 call revealed as schoolgirl found with ‘disturbing’ injuries

The defendants, of Hammond Road, Woking, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.

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

Addressing the jury, Emlyn Jones said: “Ask yourselves, how could just one person have carried out so much abuse, so many assaults, without the others knowing about it and witnessing it with their own eyes?

“If any of them weren’t part of it but had seen it, why wasn’t anything done to stop it or report it?”

He continued: “Each of them denies that they were responsible for any violence and abuse.

“Each of them seeks to shift the blame onto one or both of the others, to shift the responsibility away from themselves and onto someone else. In other words, they are pointing fingers at each other.”

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

Batool accused Sharif of being an abusive disciplinarian and she was afraid of her husband, Emlyn Jones said.

Malik’s case is that whoever was responsible was not him and he was unaware of what was going on, the prosecutor added.

In a handwritten note that an expert examined and concluded belonged to Sharif, he wrote on a piece of paper: “Love you Sara.”

Another piece read: “Whoever sees this note it’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating. I’m running away because I’m scared but I promise I’ll hand myself over and take punishment. ‘

“I swear to God my intention was not to kill her, but I lost it. My daughter is a Muslim. Can you bury (sic) her as a Muslim can be. I will return before you finish the autopsy.”

Sara Sharif’s father fled to Pakistan after allegedly killing the 10-year-old and called police to say “I punished her legally and she died”, a court has heard.

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of her murder along with Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.

Opening their trial on Monday, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said all the defendants had played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara that led to her death.

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Opening the prosecution case against Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother and uncle, jurors at the Old Bailey heard:

• Urfan Sharif called police in Surrey in the early hours of August 10 and told them: “I have killed my daughter. I punished her legally and she died.”
• Officers found the 10-year-old under a blanket in a bunk bed at the family’s Surrey home, with a handwritten note next to the pillow in Sharif’s handwriting. The note read: “It is me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating. I swear to God my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.
• A post-mortem examination revealed that Sara had died from extensive injuries after enduring a prolonged period of abuse which included bruises, burns and broken bones.
• The three family members fled to Pakistan on 9 August and were arrested over a month later on 13 September after returning to the UK.

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

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

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

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

“In other words, they’re pointing fingers at each other.”

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

Batool accused Sharif of being an abusive disciplinarian and she was afraid of her husband, while Malik’s case is that the one responsible was not him and he was unaware of what was going on.

Sara Sharif was “beaten” with objects and 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,” prosecutors 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 prints for comparison, which had ruled them out, Batool had refused to do so.

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

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 his stepdaughter’s death as an “incident.”

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

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

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

A recording has been played to jurors of Beinash Batool trying to book flights to Islamabad with Southall Travel at 21.07 on 8 August.

Describing her tone as “calm”, she can be heard asking about various flights and prices, but fails to book on any of the journeys due to issues with various cards being declined.

Instead, Urfan Sharif contacted another person who had owned a money transfer business that he had previously used and they managed to pay for flights on Faisal Malik’s card.

CCTV shows them arriving at Heathrow Airport the next day, before heading to Terminal 3 to board their flight at 6pm.