Sara Sharif's father and stepmother jailed for life for 10-year-old's murder

Justice Cavanagh said few crimes heard at the Old Bailey had been as "terrible" as the abuse suffered by Sara Sharif, as ITV News' Ellie Pitt reports

Sara Sharif's father and stepmother have been jailed for life at the Old Bailey for the 10-year-old's murder.

Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, was told he will serve a minimum term of 40 years and stepmother Beinash Batool was sentenced to a minimum term of 33 years.

Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, received a 16-year jail sentence for causing or allowing the death of a child.

Handing down the sentences, Mr Justice Cavanagh said: “It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.

"Sarah's death was the culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as the torture of this small child, mainly but not entirely at the hands of you, her father, Urfan Sharif," he told the court.

Sara was found dead in a bunk bed in the family home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10, 2023.

Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were found guilty of her murder at the Old Bailey on Wednesday. Her uncle Faisal Malik was found guilty of causing or allowing her death.

'Campaign of violence'

During the trial, jurors were told Sara had suffered more than 70 injuries shortly before her death.

Justice Cavanaugh also described how medical experts found a total of 25 separate fractures to the bones in Sara's body, on top of the fresh injuries.

The court heard she had been hooded, burned and beaten during more than two years of abuse, and began wearing a hijab to hide her facial injuries in January 2023.

Addressing Urfan Sharif on Tuesday, Justice Cavanagh said: "You plainly derived grim satisfaction from your campaign of violence against Sara.

"You were her father. You should have been her protector. It is hard to imagine a more serious breach of trust."

Justice Cavanagh accepted that while Urfan Sharif had not intended to kill his daughter, "you fully intended to hurt her and to hurt her badly. You did not care what the consequences for her would be."

"You intended that she would have a life filled with pain and misery."

Sara was also removed from school four months before her death, despite recent social services referrals after teachers noticed that she had bruises on her face. Today, the government announced new regulations around homeschooling in response.

Sara was found following a 101 call from Urfan Sharif, two days after she died. In the call from Pakistan, he said he "beat [Sara] up too much" for "being naughty".

'Encouraged and assisted'

Speaking to Sara's stepmother Beinash Batool, Justice Cavanagh said: "You did not stand in Urfan Sharif's way, and you did nothing significant to protect Sara."

"You encouraged and assisted Urfan Sharif in his assaults."

He added that, towards the end of Sara's life, Ms Batool "actively participated in some of the abuse she suffered."

These included six bite marks found on Sara's body, which he attributed to Ms Batool. He also said Ms Batool had participated in burning Sara with an iron in the weeks before her death.

Justice Cavanagh said that, although Ms Batool showed some care for Sara - occasionally buying her clothes and dressing her wounds - she was "prepared to sacrifice" her, as she feared losing her other children.

"The calm, unruffled and chilling way in which you acted in the minutes after Sara died showed how unsurprised and unconcerned you were that the ill treatment had resulted in her death," he said.

Justice Cavanagh said it was "inconceivable" that Sara's uncle Faisal Malik, who lived in the house, would have been unaware of the abuse Sara suffered.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that you were aware of the campaign of torture that was being perpetrated against Sara, primarily by your brother," he said.

He called the idea that Mr Malik did not notice what was happening to Sara "frankly preposterous."

'Suffused with self pity'

Jurors heard Mr Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with Sara's five brothers and sisters on August 9, 2023, after Sara's murder.

Under cross-examination, Urfan Sharif accepted "full responsibility" for her death. but denied that he intended to kill her.

Jurors had previously been told his case was that his wife, Beinash Batool, was responsible for Sara's death and that he had made a false confession in a phone call to protect his wife.

Justice Cavanagh said none of the three defendants had shown "a shred of remorse."

He said that, even after Mr Sharif admitted hurting Sara, ".You were still trying to wriggle out of responsibility for your crimes by asserting that you had not intended to cause any injury to Sarah and by allowing your council to contend that your admitted assaults on Sarah were not the cause of her death.

"Right to the end of the trial, your main objective was to evade liability for your crimes. You are suffused with self pity."

"As for you, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, you remain silent at trial and have made no effort to accept any responsibility for your offending," he said.

'Full of personality'

Ahead of the sentencing, a victim statement from Sara's mother, Olga Domin, was read out. She was watching the hearing via an online link.

She paid tribute to her daughter's "unique character", and said she was an "angel".

"Sara was always smiling. She had her own unique character," the statement, read by prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC, said.

"She is now an angel who looks down on us from heaven, she is no longer experiencing violence. To this day, I can't understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child."

Addressing the defendants in the dock, she said, "You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you. I would say you are executioners."

Sara's family, including her mother, had been known to social services for over a decade. Both Ms Domin and Mr Sharif had accused each other of child abuse.

During the sentencing, Justice Cavanagh described Sara as "a beautiful little girl."

"She was full of personality. She adored her baby brother and cared for him lovingly," he said, "Sara never did anything that might conceivably have justified any part of the treatment that she endured."

"It is clear that Sara stood up for herself and remained positive and cheerful in the most terrible circumstances.

"The reality was that abuse, which for anyone else would be exceptional, had become normalised for this little girl. She had known nothing else for much of her life," Justice Cavanagh said.

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