Three members of the same family will stand trial for the death of 10-year-old schoolgirl Sara Sharif.
Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of killing her.
The child’s body was discovered in her Surrey home on August 10.
The defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to her murder and to causing or permitting the death of a child between December 16, 2022 and August 9, 2023.
A jury was selected last week with prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC due to open the case at the Old Bailey on Monday.
The trial before Judge Cavanagh will continue until December 13.
Key points
The prosecutor says all three defendants are “responsible” for her death
12:39 , Holly Evans
The court heard that at the heart of the case “lies a simple but depressing truth”: a young girl had died after being subjected to serious violence.
Outlining the Crown’s case, Mr Emlyn Jones QC said: “The prosecution case is that it is inconceivable that one of the adults alone, or two of them, could have carried out what amounts to a campaign of abuse without the complicity, participation and assistance and encouragement from the others.
“None of them ever reported Sara’s abuse to an outside agency who could have intervened; Sara’s medical records show that none of the injuries she suffered were ever reported or shown to a doctor or to the staff at her school; no outside help was called for.
“None of the defendants did anything to prevent what happened to Sara, which they certainly would have done had they not been complicit in what happened.
“The prosecution is that they are all responsible for her death, and that they are all guilty of her murder.”
Schoolgirl suffered ‘terrible’ and ‘brutal’ abuse for weeks
12:31 , Holly Evans
Speaking about the injuries Sara suffered, Mr Emlyn-Jones KC said an examination of her body had revealed a “terrible truth”.
He told the Old Bailey: ‘When Urfan Sharif said on that phone call, ‘I beat her up’, he could not begin to describe the extent of the violence and physical abuse Sara had suffered; not just at the time of her death, but repeatedly, over time.
“She had been the victim of abuse and physical abuse for weeks and weeks.”
This included dozens of separate injuries, both external and internal, extensive bruising, burns and broken bones.
“So no, Sara wasn’t just beaten up. Her treatment, especially in the last few weeks of her life, had been terrible; it had been cruel. And throughout the trial, these three defendants were the adults living in the house where Sara had lived; where she had suffered; and where she had died,” he said.
Note found next to Sara’s body
12:27 , Holly Evans
Jurors heard that after providing the address, police attended the address in Woking, which was “quiet and apparently empty”.
“In an upstairs bedroom, on a bottom bunk bed, police found the body of a little girl, lying in bed, under the blanket, as if she were asleep. But she didn’t sleep. She was dead. Her name was Sara Sharif and she was only ten years old when she was murdered,” said Mr Emlyn-Jones KC.
A note was discovered next to her body in Urfan Sharif’s handwriting, which read: “I am Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating”, and “I swear to God I did not mean to kill her. But I I lost it.”
He had also written that he ran away because he was “scared”.
Urfan Sharif called Surrey police and said: ‘I killed my daughter’
12:22 , Holly Evans
Opening the prosecution’s case, Mr Emlyn Jones KC said: “We are reminded of Thursday 10 August 2023, last summer. That Thursday, at 2:47 a.m., the Surrey police were called here in the UK. The caller was the first accused Urfan Sharif. His call to the police lasted eight and a half minutes and was recorded.
“During that conversation, Urfan Sharif started by asking the operator to take down his address. It’s hard to hear what he’s saying because it sounds like he’s crying. The operator interrupts and says ‘take a deep breath and tell me what happened’.
He continued: “999 operators are used to hearing all kinds of terrible things, but this one couldn’t expect the answer he got to that question. Urfan Sharif told him: ‘I have killed my daughter’. He used a strange expression: “I punished her legally, and she died.”
“A little later, when asked for more details, he added, ‘She was bad,’ and then, ‘I beat her up, I didn’t mean to kill her, but I put her into too much beaten each other’.”
The process begins
11:52 , Holly Evans
The jury in the trial of Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik has entered the courtroom at the Old Bailey.
Prosecutor William Emlyn-Jones KC is now expected to open the case against Judge Cavanagh.
All three deny the murder charge
11:26 , Holly Evans
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to her murder and to causing or permitting the death of a child between December 16, 2022 and August 9, 2023.
A jury was selected last week in the trial of Sharif, Batool and Malik, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking.
The prosecutor is expected to open the trial this morning.
In photos: Sara Sharif
10:26 , Holly Evans
How long will the trial last?
09:59 , Albert Toth
All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to her murder and to causing or permitting the death of Sara Sharif between December 16, 2022 and August 9, 2023.
The jury was selected last week with prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC due to open the case at the Old Bailey on Monday.
The trial before Judge Cavanagh will continue until December 13.
The trial of Sara Sharif begins
09:59 , Albert Toth
Urfan Sharif, 42, her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of murdering 10-year-old relative Sara.
They are all on trial for her death.
The child’s body was found in her Surrey home on August 10.