Sara Sharif’s latest murder attempt: School principal ‘covered in homemade hood’ in week before death

The court heard that a video doorbell had been removed from the family home before the accused fled to Pakistan – leaving Sara Sharif’s body inside.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury that the doorbell could provide a “rich source of evidence” of all the events and incidents in the months before the 10-year-old’s death.

“What was strange was that when the police went to the house after Urfan Sharif’s call about Sara… the doorbell had been removed,” he said.

The doorbell bracket was still visible outside the front door, the jury said.

“You might want to ask yourself what you’re going to do and what you’re going to take away in terms of anyone thinking of taking it out,” he said.

The court heard that a former neighbour, Chloe Redwin, who used to live above Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool at the previous address in 2020, would hear “smacking” noises coming from her home.

“He was startled loudly and would be followed by ‘delightful screams’ of young girls,” prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury.

“Screaming she would hear her mother yelling, ‘shut up’ and sometimes the smacking sound was more audible then the yelling.”

The same neighbor said she often heard the children screaming, followed by the mother shouting “die” and “go to your room you bastard”, the court heard.

“Ms Redwin also often heard 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 she noticed it did not happen when the “father of the household” was in front, which continued.

He said that he “often” greeted Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and that he thought he was “aware of the inconvenience to his family, because sometimes he would apologize”.

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

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said the evidence, including dirty diapers, makeshift hoods, and various potential weapons such as rolling pins and cricket bats, suggested more than one adult was involved.

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

There was also evidence that she had been restrained with her head covered with a “homemade hood” made up of parcel tape and plastic bags, jurors heard.

Fingerprints believed to belong to his father, Sharif, were found on one of the bags tested by forensics and on the non-adhesive side of the parcel tape.

Sara Sharif’s stepmother told her sister about the abuse of the 10-year-old spanning at least two years before her death, saying “something happened to Sara I will never be able to forgive myself”, the court has heard.

Beinash Batool accused her husband Urfan Sharif of beating the 10-year-old “black” in a series of WhatsApp messages from 2019, the Old Bailey was told.

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

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said the messages Batool sent his sister showed “all was not well” in the household and made Sharif the “angry parent”.

In May 2021, he sent a message to his sister: “Urfan beat Sara. She was covered in bruises, literally beaten black.

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

The Old Bailey heard that Sara Sharif started wearing a hijab to school in January 2023 and was the only one in her household to wear a hijab.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury: “The prosecution argued that the fact that Sara started wearing a hijab at this time was an indication that she had to hide the injuries to her face and head from the outside world.”

The court heard that Sara’s primary school noticed a cut on her left eye in June 2022 as well as a cut on her chin and a dark mark on her right eye in March 2023.

When her year four and five teacher asked Sara about “two distinct bruises” in March 2023, the boy “acted coy and tried to hide it,” Mr Elwyn Jones said.

He continued: “(The teacher) observed that Sara often pulled her hijab to hide her face when she did not want to speak or be spoken to.

“Sara gave many conflicting stories about how she got the bruises.”

• Sara Sharif’s father fled to Pakistan after allegedly killing the 10-year-old and called the police to say “I punished him legally and he died”, a court heard.

• The Old Bailey said that Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including “probable human bite marks”, burns from iron and scald burns from hot water before she died. A post-mortem examination also revealed he had been “beaten” with an object and had suffered brain damage, jurors were told.

• Opening the trial on Friday, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said all three defendants had played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara leading to her death.

• He said police found Sara’s body in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 last year after her father called police at 2.47am and confessed to killing her. During the eight-and-a-half-minute call, she told the operator: “I killed my son. I punished him legally, and he died.

• When police arrived in Hammond Road, they found the property quiet, tidy and seemingly empty before finding the body next to a note in his father’s handwriting, Mr Emlyn Jones said. The note allegedly said: “I am Urfan Sharif who killed my son by beating him. I swear to God that my intention was not to kill him. But I lost it. I ran away because I was afraid.”

• Prosecutors told the jury that all three defendants “played a role” in the violence and that it was “inconceivable” that only one acted alone.

• Jurors were told in Sharif’s case that his wife, Batool, was responsible for Sara’s death and that she falsely confessed to protect him.

• Batool accused Sharif of being a harsh disciplinarian and that he was afraid of his wife, said Mr Emlyn Jones.

• Malik’s case is that whoever is responsible isn’t him and he doesn’t know what’s going on, the prosecutor added.

Read the full report on the second day of the trial from crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin:

Sara Sharif’s father cried as he admitted killing his daughter, saying “I’m a cruel father” when he called the police, a court heard.

During the call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, the taxi driver could be heard sobbing as he confessed to killing his daughter, refused to reveal the location and said he would hand himself in at Woking police station.

On the phone, played for the jury on Friday, an emotional Sharif asked the operator to write down the address, spell out the postcode, and told them to “send someone” to his home in Hammond Road, Woking.

In the recording, Sharif said Sara had been “mischievous” for the past three to four weeks and he was “punishing her” to “sort her out”, adding “I did something and she died”.

Earlier on the phone, the operator could be heard asking Sharif “is everything okay?” he replied: “Nothing.”

At one point, Sharif was heard to be so emotional that the operator couldn’t understand what he was saying and said “take a deep breath”.

Sharif continued: “I punished my son legally and he died.

“I left the house in a panic.

“I killed my daughter. I killed my son.”