NSPCC and others respond to the Sara Sharif verdict

On 11 December 2024 the CPS announced that Urfaqn Sharif, father of Sara Sharif, a ten year old girl, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, had been convicted of her murder.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, who was living in the house at the time, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child. The prosecution case was that the trio were all complicit in causing her death.

The jury at the Old Bailey heard that Sara was a victim of assaults and abuse for weeks with injuries including fractures, burns, bruising and a traumatic head injury. Such was the severity of her injuries leading up to her death, the post mortem concluded that Sara died from complications from multiple injuries and neglect and could not give a definitive cause of death.

After Sara died at the family home in Byfleet, Surrey on 8 August, Sara’s step mother Beinash Batool called a travel agency to enquire about flights to Pakistan. Her father Urfan Sharif eventually booked the one-way flights for the next day, and when asked why they were so urgent, he claimed his cousin had died.

Urfan called police on 10 August, saying he had “legally punished” Sara and she had died, before claiming he had beaten her, but not intended to kill her.

Police found Sara’s body in the family home with a note written by Urfan, saying he had killed her and had “lost it”. The trio returned to the UK on 13 September 2023 and they were arrested on arrival in the UK from Pakistan.

Sharif, Batool and Malik all accepted that the abuse to Sara took place within the family home in the weeks leading up to her death, but all denied murdering her.

Timelines were produced to account for the whereabouts of each defendant hour by hour and day by day during the relevant period, which used mobile phone evidence, Malik’s work record, the location data for Sharif’s car and usage of bank cards. This helped to evidence who was in the house at any time and when each of the three defendants was responsible for Sara’s care.

The court also heard evidence from neighbours of shouting and screaming, including a “single high-pitched scream” two days before Sara’s death, which was described as sounding like a scream of someone in pain.

Sara started to wear a hijab to school from January 2023, which hid much of her face. In March 2023, the school noticed bruising to her face, which was only visible when the hijab moved away from her face.  Just a month later, Urfan emailed the school to say Sara would be home schooled with immediate effect.

Libby Clark from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Sara was a happy, outgoing and lively child described as always laughing, who was cruelly abused and murdered by those closest to her. None of us can imagine how appalling and brutal Sara’s treatment was in the last few weeks of her short life. The injuries inflicted on her were absolutely horrendous. After Sara died, instead of calling 999, the three defendants immediately made plans to flee the country, thinking only of themselves and not telling police Sara was dead until they had safely landed in Pakistan. We were able to build a strong case, showing where each defendant was in the weeks running up to Sara’s death using mobile phone evidence, CCTV sightings and work records. In a small house with such a big family, it would have been immediately obvious to all the adults what was happening to Sara. Yet none of them took any action to stop it or report it. They all played their part in the violence that led to her tragic death. This was a complex case with much liaison with foreign authorities and our CPS international unit played a significant role in helping us to prosecute this case successfully. We have today secured justice for Sara, a bubbly young girl, who was killed by the adults who should have protected her”.