Sara Sharif’s father says stepmother was ‘true villain’ as he denies murder

Court told that Urfan Sharif had tried to call an ambulance for his daughter, but his wife told him to leave it'

The father of Sara Sharif denied killing his daughter as he claimed the 10-year-old's stepmother was the true villain of the piece", a court was told.

Urfan Sharif tried to save his limp" daughter and begged for an ambulance, only to be told Leave it, she's dead," jurors heard.

Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of carrying out a violent campaign of abuse" before Sara was found dead in a bunk bed at the family home in Surrey on 10 August 2023.

The defendants allegedly killed Sara on 8 August before fleeing to Pakistan, from where Sharif called police to say he had beat her up too much". He had left a handwritten confession" near her fully clothed body saying: I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it."

In his speech to the jury outlining Sharif's case, the defence barrister, Naeem Mian KC, suggested to jurors that Sharif had been cast wrongly as the villain of the piece". He said Sharif had accused Batool of being the true villain".

He said Sharif was extremely hardworking" and the sole breadwinner of the family, before adding: Let me make plain I'm not suggesting that he's unimpeachable, that he's some sort of an angel."

The barrister said there were times when Sharif would discipline the children with a slap, adding: You may think that as somebody that's working all the hours, seven days a week, and you're constantly being told there are issues with the children, you inevitably lose you patience sometimes."