Sara Sharif latest: Father and stepmother of schoolgirl appear at Old Bailey as hearing begins

Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother are being sentenced today for murder after inflicting a deadly campaign of abuse which saw the schoolgirl being hooded, restrained and beaten during her short life.

Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of her murder last Wednesday.

Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was also convicted of causing or allowing her death after a jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for nine hours and 46 minutes.

Sara, 10, died at the family home on 8 August last year after suffering a catalogue of 70 injuries which included a traumatic brain injury, 25 fractures, an ulcerated burn to her buttocks, human bite marks and scalding wounds.

The girl’s father had alerted Surrey Police to her death by calling its non-emergency 101 line in the early hours of 10 August 2023, after fleeing to Pakistan with Batool and Malik.

The trio are being sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Last week, Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, who is from Poland, claimed Urfan Sharif, her former partner, had also attempted to set her on fire and strangle her with a belt before murdering their daughter.

Sara’s grandmother Sylwia Kurz said: “This [murder of Sara] would not have happened if [Sara] had stayed with her mother.”

Key Points

• Courtroom begins to assemble

• Sara Sharif case ‘absolutely sickening’, says education secretary

• Sara’s mother Olga says her killers are ‘executioners’

Sara’s mother Olga says her killers are ‘executioners’

10:27 , Holly Evans

Prosecutor William Emlyn-Jones KC has read out a statement on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin, who has joined the sentencing remotely from Poland.

In her statement, she said: “Sara was always smiling, she had her own unique character. “The only thing I had left to give to my daughter was to give her a beautiful Catholic funeral which she deserves.

“She is not far from home and is visited every day. There are candles for her and flowers for her and she is now an angel that looks down from heaven.

“She is no longer experiencing violence. To this day I cannot understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child.”

She added: “You are sadists although even this word is not enough for you. I would say you are executioners. As a result of Sara’s death, I am under constant psychological supervision and I am also taking strong sedatives.”

Judge enters

10:20 , Holly Evans

Mr Justice Cavanagh has entered Court 6 of the Old Bailey and the sentencing hearing has begun.

Courtroom begins to assemble

10:16 , Holly Evans

The courtroom at the Old Bailey has begun to assemble, with lawyers for both the defendants and the CPS taking their places.

At least three members of the jury have returned to watch Mr Justice Cavanagh deliver his sentencing remarks.

Beinash Batool has appeared in the dock wearing a black suit and blouise, with Faisal Malik sitting to her right in a grey prison tracksuit accompanied by an interpreter.

Urfan Sharif sits to his right wearing a grey quarter-zip pullover, with all three separated by dock officers.

How a trial laid bare the brutally short life of a 10-year-old schoolgirl

10:13 , Holly Evans

“She was beautiful, an angel, lovely, bubbly,” a weeping Urfan Sharif told the Old Bailey as he recounted his daughter Sara Sharif’s love of eating chicken biryani and playing guitar.

Yet just days later, he would take full responsibility for her traumatic death, admitting to a campaign of abuse that had seen the 10-year-old suffer more than 25 fractures, bite marks, a traumatic brain injury and a burn caused by a hot iron.

Over the course of his trial, horrifying details emerged of the brutality inflicted upon the “happy” and “sassy” schoolgirl, whose father told police officers that he had “legally punished” her after she was naughty.

Phoning their non-emergency 101 line after fleeing to Pakistan on 10 August last year, Sharif told Surrey Police that he was a “cruel father” who hadn’t intended to kill his daughter but had lost his temper.

Read the full story here:

Sara Sharif’s mother pays moving tribute to ‘beautiful’ daughter

Sara Sharif’s mother pays tribute to ‘beautiful’ daughter

09:50 , Holly Evans

Sara Sharif’s mother has paid a moving tribute to her “beautiful” daughter who “was taken too soon”.

In a statement issued through Surrey Police following the verdicts, Sara’s mother Olga Sharif said: “My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon.

“Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Sara’s smile could brighten up the darkest room.

“Everyone who knew Sara will know her unique character, her beautiful smile and loud laugh.

“She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you princess.”

Children like Sara Sharif deserve to be seen, heard and believed

09:35 , Holly Evans

In recent weeks, the heartbreaking details surrounding the death of Sara Sharif have dominated headlines, joining the long list of tragic cases like Baby P, Victoria Climbié, and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

Each time such a tragedy unfolds, there is an outpouring of grief and outrage, followed by promises of lessons learnt and systemic reform. Yet, here we are again, asking the same devastating question: why do these failures keep happening?

As someone deeply involved in child safeguarding and policy through Manchester Met’s Institute for Children’s Futures, particularly in my work on child practice reviews and safeguarding responses in Wales and wider work across England’s safeguarding partnerships, these cases feel personal.

Read the full article here:

Children like Sara Sharif deserve to be seen, heard and believed

485 children died or were harmed by abuse or neglect in last year

09:20 , Holly Evans

Separately, a report published by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel the day after the verdicts in Sara’s case showed that 485 children in England died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect, between April 1 2023 and March 31 2024.

Panel chairwoman Annie Hudson described Sara’s case as “harrowing” as she called for a more joined-up approach to child protection, with a need for teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, police and other professionals to share information to understand what is happening in a child’s life.

Surrey County Council said an independently-led safeguarding review – known as a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) – of all professionals who had contact with Sara’s family is under way.

Such reviews are aimed at identifying learning from cases and while no timeframe has been given, it is usually expected reports are published within six months.

Sara Sharif case ‘absolutely sickening’, says education secretary

09:10 , Holly Evans

The Sara Sharif case is “utterly unspeakable,” the Education Secretary has said.

Bridget Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What we have seen and heard through the progress of the criminal trial is utterly unspeakable.

“The degree of violence that the poor young girl experienced is just absolutely sickening.”

She added: “I am pleased that her murderers will today be facing justice in their sentencing.”

Children’s Wellbeing Bill to be introduced to government

09:00 , Holly Evans

As part of previously announced reforms to children’s social care, the Government said it would be introducing a new duty on parents where, if their child is subject to a child protection inquiry or is on a child protection plan – meaning the child is suspected of being at risk of significant harm – they will need local authority consent to home educate them.

The plans, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, also include requiring local authorities to have registers of children not in school, in a bid to avoid children slipping under the radar.

The Bill has not yet begun making its way through Parliament, but it is understood it could be introduced in the Commons as early as next week.

England’s Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has described it as “madness” that an at-risk child could be taken out of school, and called for a change in the law so children who are suspected victims of abuse cannot be home educated.

She called on the Government to bring in its reforms “without delay”.

The Department for Education has said its plans will bring in greater safeguards for children in home education “so this can never be used to conceal abuse”.

Sara Sharif’s grandfather says he will fight to keep her siblings in Pakistan

08:50 , Holly Evans

Sara Sharif’s grandfather says he will fight to keep her siblings in Pakistan, calling it the “safest place for them”.

Muhammad Sharif, paternal grandfather of the murdered 10-year-old, said he will appeal to the High Court in Pakistan to stop Sara’s five siblings from being returned to the UK, the Sunday Times has reported.

Sara’s siblings remain in the city of Jhelum with efforts to return them to the UK still ongoing.

Their identities are protected by a court order.

They were taken to Pakistan by Urfan Sharif, Sara’s step-mother Beinash Batool and her uncle Faisal Malik on 9 August last year, a day before Sara’s body was discovered in a bunk bed at the family home in Woking, Surrey.

Upon arrival, they were left in the care of their paternal grandfather but were taken into state care after being discovered by Pakistani police during efforts to locate Sharif, Batool and Malik.

The children are now back in the care of their grandfather.

He told The Sunday Times said: “The legal proceedings concerning the custody of the children are ongoing in the Lahore High Court.

“They are enrolled in a reputable school, and we ensure their safety by personally transporting them to and from school.

“I am their guardian and this is the safest place for them to live in, they have an association with me and they are not willing to leave me. We will win the case.”

Sara’s parents had been known to social services as early as 2010

08:39 , Holly Evans

Following the conviction of Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, for her murder, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, of causing or allowing her death, previously unreportable details about the family’s contact with social services and the courts have been published.

They include:

– Concerns were raised about Sara’s care within a week of her birth in 2013, with her parents Urfan and Olga Sharif known to social services as early as 2010.

– Surrey County Council repeatedly raised “significant concerns” that Sara was likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents.

– There were three sets of family court proceedings but allegations that Urfan Sharif was physically abusing Sara and her siblings were never tested in court.

– Sara was repeatedly returned to her parents’ care before finally being placed with her father and stepmother at their home in Woking in 2019, four years before she was murdered there.

Parents were known to social services

08:30 , Sam Rkaina

In his trial, Sharif initially blamed Batool for the violence before dramatically accepting “full responsibility”, leaving jurors open mouthed and tearful.

He later appeared to backtrack, denying he had bitten or burned Sara or covered her head in a hood.

Jurors heard that bite marks on Sara’s arm and thigh did not match either Sharif or Malik and only Batool had refused to give impressions of her teeth.

Jurors heard that Sharif had been granted custody in 2019, despite earlier allegations of child abuse and arrests for alleged controlling behaviour towards ex-girlfriends.

In documents later released by the family court, it emerged that concerns were raised about Sara’s care within a week of her birth in 2013, with her parents known to social services as early as 2010.

Surrey County Council repeatedly raised “significant concerns” that Sara was likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents.

There were three sets of family court proceedings, but allegations that Sharif was physically abusing Sara and her siblings were never tested in court.

Sara was repeatedly returned to her parents’ care before finally being placed with her father and stepmother, four years before she was murdered.

Abuse ‘became normalised’ trial told

08:10 , Sam Rkaina

Even as she lay dying in Batool’s lap last August 8, taxi driver Sharif had come home and whacked her in the stomach for “pretending”.

Batool had told her sister that Sharif would “beat the c**p” out of his daughter but failed to do anything to stop it, even calling him home from work to dish out punishments, the court was told.

The abuse had become so “normalised” that university student Malik failed to act after moving in with the family in December 2022.

By January 2023, Sara began wearing a hijab to cover up the bruises at school.

Teachers had twice noticed marks on her face and referred her to social services last March, but the case was dropped within days and the following month Sara was taken out of school.

Within hours of Sara’s death, Sharif and Batool had booked flights to Pakistan for the whole family, including her siblings and half siblings.

The defendants returned to the UK on September 13 2023 – leaving the children behind – and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport.

Father and stepmother to be sentenced today

07:48 , Sam Rkaina

Sara Sharif‘s father and stepmother will be sentenced later for killing the 10-year-old after years of horrific abuse.

Last week, Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of her murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, who lived with them, was convicted of causing or allowing her death after a jury deliberated for nine hours and 46 minutes.

The three defendants will return to the Old Bailey on Tuesday when Mr Justice Cavanagh’s sentencing is expected to be broadcast from the court.

Sara was found dead in a bunkbed at her home in Woking, Surrey, after her father rang police from Pakistan to confess he had beaten her “too much”.

She had suffered more than 25 broken bones, iron burns on her bottom, scalding marks to her feet, and human bites during a campaign of abuse spanning at least two years.

Sharif had hit her with a cricket bat and iron bar, throttled her, and thrown a mobile phone at her head.

Sara was also tied up with packaging tape and her head covered with a makeshift hood during regular bouts of punishment that would have left her in excruciating pain, jurors had heard.