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

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.

The trial of Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik is breaking for lunch and will resume at 2pm.

We’ll continue to bring you the latest updates.

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.”

The court heard that at the “heart of this 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 KC 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, assistance and encouragement of the others.

“None of them ever reported Sara’s abuse to any outside agency, who could have intervened; Sara’s medical records tell us that none of the injuries she received was ever reported, or shown to a doctor, or to staff at her school; no outside help was called.

“None of the defendants did anything to prevent what was happening to Sara, as they surely would have done if they had not been complicit in what was happening.

“The prosecution case is that they are all responsible for her death, and they are all guilty of her murder.”

Detailing the injuries Sara had suffered, Mr Emlyn-Jones KC said that an examination of her body had revealed a “terrible truth”.

He told the Old Bailey: “When Urfan Sharif said, in that call, ‘I beat her up’, he came nowhere near to describing 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 assault and physical abuse for weeks and weeks, at least.”

This included dozens of separate injuries both externally and internally, extensive bruising, burns, and broken bones.

“So no, Sara had not just been beaten up. Her treatment, certainly in the last few weeks of her life, had been appalling; it had been brutal. And throughout, 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.