Court Hears Harrowing Evidence of Sara Sharif’s Injuries

Published on: 16 Oct, 2024
Updated on: 16 Oct, 2024

Sara Sharif. Images Surrey Police

By Martin Giles

The trial of those accused of the murder of ten-year-old Sara Sharif in Horsell, Woking, continued at the Old Bailey in London today. The jury heard more detailed evidence of the extensive injuries the young girl suffered over a sustained period.

Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, together with his partner Beinash Batool, 30, and his brother Faisal Malik, 29, have all pleaded not guilty to murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik are each facing two charges relating to the death of Sara Sharif. Image Surrey Police

Earlier this week the court was told that Sara’s father called police from Pakistan, where the three had flown to at short notice, and admitted he killed her at their Surrey home.

It was said that Urfan Sharif made the confession in an eight minute-call about an hour after his family’s flight had landed in Islamabad on August 10 last year, before Sara’s body was found in their Horsell home.

Jurors were told that each defendant was seeking to “deflect the blame” onto one or both of the others and that Mr Sharif’s case was that Ms Batool was responsible for Sara’s death. His confession during the phone call and also in a note was said to be false to protect her.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told the court Sara had been the victim of violent assaults for “weeks and weeks, at least”, before he listed a series of injuries she had suffered.

The injuries were external and internal, including extensive bruising, burns and broken bones, old and new, burns to her buttocks, caused by a domestic iron, and six “probable human bite marks” to her arms and legs, the prosecution said.

Dental impressions ruled out that the bite marks had been caused by the male defendants, but Ms Batool had refused to provide the impressions, the court heard.

Sara also suffered injuries to her ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 separate fractures to her spine, as well as signs of a traumatic brain injury, the prosecution added.

The prosecutor said that in the eight minute telephone call to the police Mr Sharif told the operator that he “legally punished her” and she died. It was said that Mr Sharif went on to tell the operator: “It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”

However, Mr Jones added: “Sara had not just been beaten up. Her treatment, certainly in the last few weeks of her life, had been appalling and brutal.”

The court also heard that next to Sara’s body was a note in Urfan Sharif’s handwriting.

The prosecuting counsel said it read: “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 I will hand over myself and take punishment.

“I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her but I lost it.”

Mr Jones KC added: “As in the 999 call, on the face of it, the note appears to be a confession to having caused Sara’s death by beating her up.”

Today’s evidence

Today (Wednesday, October 16), Home Office pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary, a registered pathologist for over 32 years, gave his evidence.

Dr Cary told the jury that he conducted the post-mortem examination on 15 August 2023. He explained that two pathologists are required in the deaths of children, with Dr Cary providing the forensic pathology expertise and Dr Marnerides providing the specialism in child deaths.

The jury was told that there was no natural disease that caused or contributed to Sara’s death. Describing Sara’s death as an “unnatural death”, Dr Cary listed the various internal and external injuries she had suffered, which he said were in keeping with significant blunt force trauma and use of instruments, adding that Sara had suffered a traumatic brain injury of more than 48 hours which may have contributed to her death.

Dr Cary said he could not exclude the possibility of sepsis (infection into the blood stream) contributing to the cause of death, telling the jury that the broad cause of death was complications arising from multiple injuries and neglect, and the consequence of an accumulation of injuries as opposed to single injury.

Dr Cary will be cross-examined at a later date.

The trial continues.