Sara Sharif trial murder latest: Schoolgirl’s head ‘covered with homemade hood’ in weeks before death

Neighbour heard a “single high-pitched scream” of “someone in pain” two days before Sara Sharif died, 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.

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.”

The court heard that a former neighbour, Chloe Redwin, who used to live above Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool at a previous address in 2020, would hear sounds of “smacking” from their home.

“They were shockingly loud and would be followed by ‘gut-wrenching screams’ of young female children,” prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury.

“Over the screaming she would hear the mother shout, ‘shut up’ and sometimes the sounds of further smacking would be heard followed by shouting.”

The same neighbour said she would often hear children screaming, followed by their mother shouting “shut the f*** up” and “go to your room you f****** bastard”, the court heard.

“Ms Redwin would also frequently hear the mother refer to the children as ‘c****’,” the prosecutor said.

Ms Redwin said she heard shouting and screaming at “any time of the day or night”, but that she noticed it did not occur when the “father of the household” was at home, he continued.

She said she “often” said hello to Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and that she thought he was “conscious of the noise his family made, because on occasions he would apologise for it”.

The court heard that a video doorbell had been removed from the family home before the defendants fled to Pakistan – leaving Sara Sharif’s body inside.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury the doorbell could have provided a “rich source of evidence” of all the comings and goings in the month before the 10-year-old was killed.

“What is odd is that when the police went to the house after Urfan Sharif’s phone call about Sara….that Ring doorbell had been removed,” he said.

The doorbell’s bracket was still visible to the exterior of the front door, the jury were told.

“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,” he added.

The trial has resumed at the Old Bailey.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC is expected to continue opening the crown’s case against the defendants on Tuesday.

Sara Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, deny murdering the 10-year-old and causing or allowing her death.

• 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.

The Sara Sharif murder trial is set to continue for a second day today.

The 10-year-old’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, are charged with her murder and causing or allowing her death.

The trial is due to go on for seven weeks at the Old Bailey in central London.

Sara Sharif’s father told police “I’ve killed my daughter” and that he had “legally punished” her after inflicting injuries that led to her death, a court has heard.

Urfan Sharif contacted Surrey Police on 999 in the early hours of 10 August last year, after he had fled to Pakistan leaving his daughter’s body at the family home in Woking, Surrey.

Officers discovered the body of the 10-year-old under a blanket on a bunk bed. She had suffered extensive injuries in a “campaign of abuse”, which included broken bones, burns and bruising.

My colleague Holly Evans reports:

In a harrowing phone call that lasts over eight minutes, jurors heard Urfan Sharif reporting his daughter’s death to Surrey Police, telling them: “I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her but I beat her up too much.”

He can be heard crying down the phone, pleading with officers to visit the address and saying: “Can you send someone, my daughter is alone.”

Asked what had happened, he said: “I think she was naughty over the last three, four weeks and I was giving her punishment to sort her out and I did something and she died.”

When asked if she was breathing, he said: “I tried to resuscitate her I tried to give her CPR everything but I failed, I panicked.

“She is dead I am telling you.”

He adds that he will return to the property and told the operator: “It happened 36 hours ago, I’m a cruel father.”

Ten-year-old Sara Sharif died after an alleged “campaign of abuse” in the home she shared with her father, stepmother and uncle.

Here is a timeline of how events unfolded, according to the prosecution.

– April 2023

Father Urfan Sharif informs Sara’s school that she will be home-schooled with immediate effect.

– 6 April 2023

Sara and her family move to a three-bedroom house in Hammond Road in the Horsell area of Woking.

– 8 August 2023

8.38pm – A child sends a WhatsApp message to a school friend labelled “urgent”, saying that Sara had “just passed away”.

9.07pm – Beinash Batool, Sara’s stepmother, calls Southall Travel agency to ask about flights to Pakistan but after 50 minutes the call ends without flights being arranged.

10pm – Sharif contacts Nadeem Riaz, who works for a money transfer business, and says he needs a flight to Pakistan the next day.

– 9 August 2023

9.25am – CCTV captures Sharif and his family arriving at Heathrow Airport to take a flight to Pakistan at 2pm.

– 10 August 2023

2.47am – Sharif has arrived in Pakistan and phones police in the UK, saying: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died. She was naughty. I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”

Police go to the family home in Woking and find Sara’s body in a bed with a note by the pillow in Sharif’s handwriting.

– 15 August 2023

A post-mortem examination is undertaken which concludes Sara’s death was not a natural one. There were alleged signs of blunt force trauma inflicted over several weeks, bruises, iron burns to the buttocks, restraint marks and suspected human bite marks, jurors heard.

– 6 September 2023

Sharif and Batool appear in a short video clip provided to and broadcast by Sky News in which Batool refers to Sara’s death as an “incident”.

– 13 September 2023

Sharif, Batool and Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik take a flight into Gatwick and are met by police who arrest them on the plane.

– 14 October 2024

The three defendants, of Woking, Surrey, go on trial at the Old Bailey, having denied murder and causing or allowing Sara’s death.