Sara Sharif’s Father Denies Claims of Garden Cleaning as Trial Unfolds
The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif has denied allegations that her body was stripped and jet-washed in the garden as the family prepared to flee to Pakistan following her death.
Urfan Sharif, 42, a taxi driver, is on trial alongside his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, at the Old Bailey. All three are accused of involvement in prolonged abuse that prosecutors allege culminated in Sara’s tragic death in August last year.
The Night of Sara’s Death
Sara’s body was discovered on a bunkbed in her family home in Woking, Surrey, dressed in clean clothes. Prosecutors allege her soiled leggings and a nappy were discarded in the garden near a jetwash, with packaging tape and hoods found in a nearby bin.
The court heard that on the same evening Sara died, Batool made a calm phone call to a travel agent to book flights to Pakistan for the next day. Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC described the tone of the conversation as “brutal,” given that Sara’s body was still in the house.
Emlyn Jones suggested to Sharif that Sara had been taken into the garden, stripped, and washed after her death. He asked, “She wasn’t in the garden? You haven’t taken her to the shed? … The body of Sara was cleaned, wasn’t it?”
Sharif denied the claim, insisting he had only cleaned Sara’s head and did not remove her clothes.
Details of Abuse
Sharif has admitted tying Sara up with tape and beating her with a cricket bat, metal pole, and mobile phone. He also admitted hitting her in the stomach as she lay dying in Batool’s lap. However, he denied accusations of more extreme abuse, including burning her with an iron, pouring boiling water on her, biting her, and forcing her head into a hood.
“I take responsibility for everything that happened to my daughter,” Sharif tearfully told the court. “I am her father. I didn’t do what I should have done.”
Prosecution’s Allegations of Collusion
The prosecution claims all three defendants were complicit in the abuse and its aftermath. Emlyn Jones argued that the group acted together to flee to Pakistan, abandoning plans to return to the UK. “You are all in this together,” he said. “A problem you caused together, you all have to run away together.”
Sharif denied the claim, stating he returned to the UK voluntarily. However, Emlyn Jones suggested this decision was due to external pressure from authorities and family in Pakistan.
Defence Arguments
During re-examination, Sharif’s lawyer, Naeem Mian KC, pressed him on the injuries he had denied responsibility for, such as burns and bites. Sharif wept as he reiterated his denial of these acts but maintained accountability for other forms of abuse.
Trial Ongoing
Sharif, Batool, and Malik, all formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, deny charges of murder and causing or allowing Sara’s death. The trial continues.