Sara Sharif’s dad is in eternal hell, jury told
· BBC NewsChristian Fuller & PA Media
BBC News, South East
Sara Sharif’s father will be in the “circles of hell for eternity” for what he did to his daughter, a court has heard.
Urfan Sharif had previously admitted at the Old Bailey that he was “a cruel father” and that he had beat Sara, but he said that he did not mean to seriously harm her.
The 42-year-old has denied murder and causing or allowing the 10-year-old’s death. Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, have also denied the charges.
The court previously heard that Sara had been hooded, burned and beaten during more than two years of abuse before her body was found with dozens of injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, last year.
Under cross-examination, Mr Sharif previously accepted “full responsibility” for Sara's death, but denied intending to kill her.
On his client’s shock admissions, Mr Mian KC said it came as “a total surprise”.
He added: “What happened to Sara was awful and that must be the understatement of the year. It was savage, it was brutal.
“You may think quite rightly and deservedly so that that man will never forgive himself. He will be in the circles of hell for eternity.
“He’s undoubtedly guilty of something, but the question for you members of the jury is of what, and that’s something you’ve got to unpack yourselves.”
Warning: This article contains distressing details
A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered injuries including "probable human bite marks", an iron burn and scalding from hot water before she died on 8 August 2023.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.
Mr Mian KC said the fractures Mr Sharif caused were healing by the time of her death and were not a “significant contributory factor”.
Meanwhile, Ms Batool’s barrister Caroline Carberry KC rejected Mr Sharif’s description of the stepmother as a “psycho”, stating the only psychopath in the courtroom was him.
“The sole perpetrator of the violence that led to Sara’s death is Urfan Sharif,” she told the jury.
She pointed to his admissions under cross-examination that he hit her in the face and head repeatedly with a bat and pole two days before her death.
The trial continues.