SARA SHARIF's stepmother and uncle have opted not to present evidence in their defence during the murder trial of the 10-year-old British Pakistani girl.
At the Old Bailey on Monday (18), Justice Cavanagh questioned whether the barristers representing each defendant had informed their clients that the jury could "draw appropriate inferences" from their decision not to provide evidence. The barristers confirmed they had done so.
Sara was found dead in her bed in Woking, southwest of London, on August 10, 2023, with extensive injuries including broken bones, burns and bite marks.
Her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, along with the girl's father, Urfan Sharif, 42, have denied murder and causing or allowing her death.
However, her father last Wednesday (13) admitted that he killed his daughter, but maintained he had not meant to harm her, even as he beat her when she lay dying.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey court, Urfan had previously blamed Batool and said she had forced him to confess to killing her.
But under questioning from his wife's lawyer last Wednesday the taxi driver said he took "full responsibility" for what had happened, but that he had not intended to hurt Sara.
Asked if he killed Sara by beating, he replied: "Yes, she died because of me."
Sara Sharif. (Photo credit: Surrey Police)He also admitted causing multiple fractures in the weeks before Sara's death, using a cricket bat on her as she was bound with packaging tape, throttling her with his bare hands and breaking the hyoid bone in her neck.
"I can take full responsibility. I accept every single thing," he said, also accepting that he badly beat Sara on August 8 when she had collapsed and was dying.
He maintained however that he was not guilty of the murder charge. "I did not want to hurt her. I didn't want to harm her," he told the jury.
The court heard that Sara's body was discovered with multiple injuries at the family home in Woking, Surrey. A post-mortem examination revealed she suffered "probable human bite marks", an iron burn, and scalding from hot water before her death on August 8, 2023.
Prosecutors presented evidence including a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara's DNA, a metal pole, belt, and rope found near the family's outhouse.
During the trial, Urfan admitted using a cricket bat and metal pole to attack his daughter, but denied additional allegations of abuse including burning her and biting her.
"I used packaging tape to tie Sara up and also struck her with a mobile phone," Sharif told the court. However, he rejected claims of biting her, burning her with an iron, or using boiling water as punishment.
He claimed he only cleaned Sara's head and did not remove her clothes, contradicting prosecutors' claims that her body was stripped, cleaned with a jetwash in the garden, and her soiled clothes discarded.
Prosecutors argue all three defendants were involved in her death and subsequent attempts to conceal evidence.
During the trial, Urfan also denied claims that he intentionally destroyed phone evidence linked to Sara's tragic death.
He was responding to questions about why no family member brought their mobile phones back from Pakistan, where they fled the day after Sara was found dead.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC argued that critical information had been lost, describing the missing phones as a “treasure trove” of potential messages, photos, and videos.
Addressing Urfan, the prosecutor said, “If we had your phone, there would be tonnes of messages talking about Sara - months, years of being punished, you were discussing in these messages. When you went to Pakistan, you made sure those phones didn’t come back.”
In response, he insisted the phones were not deliberately left behind. “The phones were in the car when the police raided,” he said. He also denied allegations he had manipulated the situation for his own benefit.
The court previously heard Urfan, Batool and Malik travelled to Islamabad with Sara's five brothers and sisters on August 9, 2023, the day before her body was found. They were arrested on September 13 when they flew back to the UK.
The court heard distressing evidence of Sara’s suffering before her death. Over two years, she endured severe abuse, including being hooded, burned, and beaten. When her body was found last August, she had been placed on a bunk bed in her family home.
The trial in the case continues.
