Court Hears Allegations of Past Threats Against Sara Sharif’s Father

A court has been informed that the father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl whose murder he is accused of, had prior arrests related to domestic violence and making threats to kill previous partners. Sara was discovered deceased with numerous injuries to her body at her family residence in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 of the previous year. Urfan Sharif, 42, the girl’s father; Beinash Batool, 30, her stepmother; and Faisal Malik, 29, her uncle, have all pleaded not guilty to murder charges. On Monday, a jury at the Old Bailey was informed that Mr. Sharif had faced earlier arrests concerning accusations brought by three distinct women since 2004. Mr. Sharif testified to the jury that he was involved in a relationship with a Polish woman spanning from 2004 to either 2007 or 2008. During her cross-examination of Mr. Sharif, Caroline Carberry KC, the defense barrister for Ms. Batool, stated to the court that her records indicated the woman was 18 years old in 2007. Ms. Carberry conveyed to Mr. Sharif: “[The woman] told police that you had held her in a bedroom against her will, that you locked the door using her key, that you shouted at her ‘don’t go to your friends and I want to see you always at home’, and when you were doing that you were squeezing her face.” The court subsequently heard allegations from the woman that Mr. Sharif pointed a knife at her, confiscated her passport, stomped on her phone, and threatened her, saying: “Shut your mouth or I’ll kill you.” Mr. Sharif refuted these claims. In March 2009, Mr. Sharif traveled to Poland, where he encountered a different woman with whom he had been communicating online for the preceding eight months. The two returned to the UK; however, the woman departed the country after two weeks, asserting that he had falsely imprisoned her for five days. Mr. Sharif denied this accusation and additionally dismissed Ms. Carberry’s assertions that he had sent threatening emails to the woman, prevented her from meeting her friends, and retained her passport. Jurors were informed that five months after the woman’s return to Poland, Mr. Sharif met a third Polish woman, Olga, who later became Sara’s mother. Olga relocated to the UK and married Mr. Sharif. The court was told that a year into their marriage, Mr. Sharif was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Olga and another child, which he characterized as “false allegations.” Mr. Sharif further denied confining Olga in a room and confiscating her phone, but he described retaining her bank cards as “normal husband and wife behaviour.” Ms. Carberry stated: “The fact is at that time you were a gambler, weren’t you? You owed over £17,000 to creditors at that time.” She continued: “You used to have a problem with alcohol. You drank to excess at home, didn’t you? Whiskey was your favourite. Did you become angry in drink?” “Never,” Mr. Sharif responded, disputing the claim that he had an alcohol problem. In 2011, while still married to Olga, Mr. Sharif acknowledged that he entered into an engagement with his cousin in Pakistan through an Islamic ceremony. The subsequent May, Olga became pregnant with Sara. The jury was informed that immediately after Sara’s birth, she was placed under a child protection plan. A social worker visited the residence on May 17, 2013. Ms. Carberry reminded Mr. Sharif: “At that time, [there was] an agreement in place that you, the parents, would alert social services to any marks that you saw on the children.” She then asked: “You told the social worker that [a child] had been accidentally burnt by a barbecue tong when playing football. Why you didn’t report a burn mark to the leg?” Mr. Sharif responded: “We should have told it.” During an encounter between Mr. Sharif and Sara, while Sara was residing with a foster carer, a social worker observed that the girl recoiled when Mr. Sharif reprimanded her and seemed taken aback when he lifted and embraced her. Mr. Sharif concurred with this observation, attributing it to Sara still living with her foster carer. The jury was informed that by 2014, Olga had ceased living with Mr. Sharif, Sara had returned to live with her father, and Ms. Batool was “helping out.” The court heard an allegation that Olga had informed social services that Mr. Sharif had tightened a belt around her neck. Ms. Carberry remarked: “A belt is something you would go on to punish Sara with too.” Mr. Sharif responded: “No ma’am.” A video was also presented to the court, showing Sara 11 days prior to her death, with what Ms. Batool’s barrister characterized as a “very nasty black eye.” When questioned about his failure to notice such a clear injury, Mr. Sharif stated he did not recall it. Mr. Sharif was never formally charged concerning the allegations brought against him by the three women. The three defendants, all of whom resided with Sara in Woking before her passing, also face charges of causing or allowing the death of a child, which they deny. The trial at the Old Bailey is ongoing.