Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Body of schoolgirl found with more than 70 injuries, says pathologist

Police constable George Van Der Waart told the court on Tuesday that he was dispatched to the Sharif family home shortly before 3am on 10 August, following Mr Sharif’s 999 call.

Giving evidence, he said he entered through an unlocked rear door and found the downstairs clean with no signs of any disturbance.

He discovered Sara’s body on a bunk bed in an upstairs bedroom with a fan switched on, he added.

“There was a blanket on the bed and…underneath the white sheet I could see a human shaped figure,” he told the Old Bailey. “I pulled back the cover and underneath was the body of a 10-year-old girl.”

He described her as being “placed” on the bed, where she was lying on her back. Asked about the sheet, he added: “It was neat on top literally like it had been laid there.”

A note that was found by Sara Sharif’s body in her father’s handwriting has been pictured in court.

On arrival at the 10-year-old’s family home, police found the property was quiet, very tidy and seemingly empty before discovering her body next to a note in her father’s handwriting, the Old Bailey heard.

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.”

• Schoolgirl Sara Sharif was made to wear a ‘home-made hood’ of plastic bags and parcel tape, the prosecution allege.
• The 10-year-old’s blood was found on a cricket bat and a vacuum cleaner at the family home, the court heard.
• Bruises found on Sara’s body matched a belt buckle and plastic-coated metal pole found in an outhouse at the property - where police also found a rolling pin with traces of her DNA, the jury heard.
• A neighbour heard a “high-pitched scream” two days before Sara was killed, court told.
• Another neighbour at a previous address claimed she heard “smacking” sounds followed by “gut-wrenching” screams at the family home.
• Sara Sharif began wearing a hijab to school in January 2023 “to conceal injuries to her face and head from the outside world,” the prosecution suggested.

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 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”.

Sara Sharif was hooded, restrained and beaten with a belt buckle and pole in a campaign of abuse lasting more than two years before her death, the court heard.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said evidence, including a soiled nappy, makeshift hoods, and a variety of potential weapons such as rolling pins and a cricket bat, suggested more than one adult was involved.

A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including “probable human bite marks”, an iron burn and scalding from hot water.

There was also evidence that she had been restrained with her head covered with “homemade hoods” comprised of parcel tape and plastic bags, jurors have heard.

Fingerprints allegedly belonging to her father, 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.

Sara Sharif’s stepmother told her sisters about violence against the 10-year-old spanning at least two years before her death, saying “something happens to Sara I will not be able to forgive myself”, a court has heard.

Beinash Batool had blamed her husband Urfan Sharif for beating the 10-year-old “black” in a series of WhatsApp messages dating back to 2019, the Old Bailey was told.

But the prosecution alleged Batool, 30, minicab driver Sharif, 42, and his brother Faisal Malik, 29, all played a part in Sara’s death after being hooded, restrained, burned, bitten and hit with a belt buckle and pole.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said the messages Batool sent to her sisters showed “all was not well” in the household and cast Sharif as an “angry parent”.

In May 2021, she messaged her sister: “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara. She’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black.

“I feel really sorry for Sara, poor girl can’t walk. I really want to report him.”