Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Stepmother regularly ‘screamed’ and ‘lost her temper’, neighbour tells jury

Chloe Redwin has told jurors that she noticed Sara Sharif had begun wearing a hijab around January 2023, shortly before the family left the flat and moved to Woking.

She added she had never seen it before and that no other female family members had been seen to wear one.

When she complimented the headscarf to Beinash Batool, she told jurors that the conversation had been “shut down in quite an aggressive way”.

She recalled that Batool had responded: “She has decided to wear one, she wants to follow her religion”.

The prosecution are claiming that the hijab was used to cover the extent of Sara’s injuries in the months before her death.

The court has briefly taken a break after Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, broke down in tears and walked out of the dock.

It came as a second neighbour told the court that she had frequently heard a “smacking” noise followed by a scream when Beinash Batool was at the property.

Chloe Redwin, who lived above the family, said: “I heard what I believe to be smacking. I would say it was a person smacking another person. It was loud. A smack followed by a scream and being told to go to your room.”

She also recalled that on the occasional weekend Sharif was home and not working over the weekend, he would play with the children outside and was seen on a picnic rug with ice lollies.

However, she said that Batool would remain inside and shout out an occasional “command” to Sara.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Chloe Redwin, who moved into Rebecca Spencer’s flat in West Byfleet and lived above the family, said that she had heard consistent screaming from a young female.

Asked if she could hear shouting, she said: “Often you would hear shut the f*** up. You would hear shut the f*** up you b****rd and shut up you c***s.”

She also heard Beinash Batool shouting “go to your room”, and that a distressed screaming would often resume from 4pm onwards.

“The tone was very loud, in my opinion it was very aggressive, and I don’t know if I’m explaining it correctly, it was almost forceful. She had a determination behind what she was saying,” she said.

Ms Redwin said that Batool was often at the property as a ‘stay home mum’ while Urfan Sharif worked as a taxi driver.

The trial has taken a break for lunch and will resume at 2pm.

When questioned by Beinash Batool’s lawyer, Rebecca Spencer repeated that she had heard the stepmother shouting and screaming at the flat in West Byfleet.

She insisted that she had heard profanities being used, despite Caroline Carberry KC pointing out that she had not mentioned the use of the word “f***ing” in her police statement.

Ms Spencer told the Old Bailey: “There’s a right and a wrong way to speak to children, and that wasn’t the right way.”

Recalling her experience of living above Sara Sharif’s family, Rebecca Spencer said she heard Beinash Batool swearing at the children, using “not very nice words”.

When asked what specific words, she said: “Just effing and not words you would expect to be heard spoken to children.

“I wouldn’t like to define it but in my head I’m thinking f***ing b*****ds”.

She recalled a garden party held in the communal areas in which the Sharif family attended, where Sara joined in the games.

“Sara was a lovely girl, she was taking part in the games with all of them, she spent most of her time chatting with me rather than playing with the other children.”

Rebecca Spencer told jurors she had occasionally heard a “thwack” coming from the flat, and had on one occasion asked Beinash Batool if all was well.

“On one occasion it was fever pitch. I said is everything okay in here and they said, “yes, yes” and the door was shut in my face. This was the stepmother.

“It had gone on for a long time, I was just getting to the end of my tether. General constant screaming and crying and banging,” she said.

When she moved from the property, she warned the incoming tenant that they were a “nightmare” family with the noise.

A neighbour has told the Old Bailey that she witnessed Beinash Batool shouting at Sara while she lived below them.

“I would hear the stepmother shout at Sara,” Rebecca Spencer said.

When asked by the prosecutor how she could tell it was Sara, she responded: “She shouted her name.”

She added that she had also seen the 10-year-old, then aged about six, carry out chores such as taking items down to the bin.

During this period, Urfan Sharif worked as a taxi driver while Batool remained home.