Neighbour heard girl scream 'in pain' two days before Sara Sharif, 10, died, court hears

25 October 2024, 16:21

A neighbour considered calling the police after hearing a girl “scream in pain” just days before Sara Sharif’s death, a court heard.

Sharif was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year and had more than 70 injuries in the weeks and months leading up to her death, jurors were told.

Her dad, Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmum Beinash Batool, 29, and Urfan's brother, Faisal Malik, 28 are all standing trial charged with her murder.

Young Sara suffered over 70 injuries including “probable human bites” on her left arm and leg.

Read more: Sara Sharif’s extensive injuries likened to a ‘car crash victim’ - as tragic details of youngster's abuse emerge

Last August 11, neighbour Fiona Mellon spoke to officers carrying out house to house inquiries and described hearing a child's scream about five days before, on August 6, 48 hours before Sara’s death.

Mellon had been sitting in her kitchen on her computer at around 4:30pm when she heard the scream.

In a statement, she said: "I just heard one scream for a couple of seconds that just stopped suddenly, like a young female voice.

"It did not sound good. This is a quiet area and this is unusual. It seemed like someone in pain and it was so out of the ordinary I wondered to myself whether I should tell someone, like the police.

"I went to the rear patio doors. I did not see anyone and everything was quiet.

"I could not tell where the scream had come from. I did not hear another scream or any other noise so I did not take it any further."

She added: "Apart from Sara's family there were no other young children living in the immediate vicinity.

"In the five days before police attended I did not see the family at all which is unusual."

Ms Mellon did not know Sara well, but described her as a “spirited young girl.”

On the surface the Sharifs seemed like a "happy family" but the neighbour noted the mother "needed support", jurors heard.

Jurors also heard from teaching assistant Hayley Holden, who had helped Sara with her spelling.

She described seeing bruising on her face which led to a referral from the school.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Holden said: "She was a little feisty. If she had an opinion she would voice it and she was not afraid to answer back. She never spoke about her home life."

Some time after Easter 2023, Ms Holden saw what looked like bruising on Sara's face which looked like "someone had tried to cover it up".

The Old Bailey trial was adjourned until 2pm on Monday.