Sara Sharif murder trial latest: Schoolgirl found with ‘disturbing’ injuries as father’s 999 call revealed

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

• Urfan Sharif called Surrey Police during the early hours of 10 August and told them: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.” 
• Officers found the 10-year-old under a blanket in a bunkbed at the family home in Surrey, with a handwritten note next to the pillow in Sharif’s writing. The note said: “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.
• A post-mortem examination found that Sara had died of extensive injuries after enduring a prolonged period of abuse, which included bruising, 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 of 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 just one of them had acted alone.

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

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

“In other words, they are pointing the finger at each other.”

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

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

Other injuries included to Sara’s ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 separate fractures to the 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 her stepdaughter’s death as an “incident”.

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

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

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

A recording has been played to jurors of Beinash Batool attempting to book flights to Islamabad with Southall Travel at 9.07pm on 8 August.

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

Instead, Urfan Sharif contacted another individual who had owned a money transferring business that he had previously used, and they succeeded in paying 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 2pm flights.

A note was left next to the pillow where Sara was discovered from her father, in which he says it was not his intention to kill her, and that he was running away.

On the first piece of paper, he had written: “Love you Sara.”

A second piece read: “Whoever see this note its me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating. I am running away because I am scared but I promise that I will hand over myself and take punishment.’

“I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her but I lost it. My daughter is Muslim. Can you burry (sic) her like Muslim may be. I will be back before you finish the postmortem.”

Jurors heard that a handwriting expert had confirmed the writing to be that of Urfan Sharif.

Jurors have heard that Sara was discovered in the upstairs bedroom of the family home in Woking under a blue blanket.

Officers found her fully clothed, although Mr Emlyn-Jones said that it was believed she had been dressed in clean clothes after she had died.

At the time she was found, the only visible injuries were some bruises to her face and to one of her fingers.

The jury have re-entered the courtroom and the trial is set to resume.