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Jurors involved in 'extremely stressful and traumatic' Sara Sharif case offered counselling and support
19 December 2024, 15:13 | Updated: 19 December 2024, 15:49
Jurors involved in the "extremely stressful and traumatic" case of Sara Sharif have been offered free counselling and support following the 10-week trial into her "shocking" murder, LBC has been told.
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The case "shocked and horrified not only those who knew and loved her, but people across the country and around the world", according to police.
The 10-year-old girl was "beaten to death" at her family home in Surrey last year after suffering a two-year campaign of "horrific" abuse.
During the "campaign of torture", Sara was hooded, burned, bitten and beaten and her body was found by police to have 96 injuries, including 11 fractures to her spine and signs of a traumatic brain injury.
On Tuesday, her father Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmum Beinash Batool, 30, were given life sentences with a minimum of 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder.
Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to a minimum of 16-years in prison after being found guilty of a lesser charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson confirmed to LBC: “Jurors involved in the Sara Sharif case have been offered free counselling sessions and access to a 24/7 helpline for support, as part of an ongoing pilot operating across 15 Crown Courts.”
The scheme is available for jurors who have taken part in "the most traumatic cases" who hear disturbing evidence, including murder, abuse and cruelty.
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'Distressing and traumatic'
The scheme, launched in October, means jurors in 14 Crown Courts across the country can self-refer themselves for six free counselling sessions with specially trained counsellors, as well as a 24/7 helpline for support and advice.
Justice Minister Heidi Alexander said: "Jury service is an essential part of criminal justice which underpins the impartiality and fairness that runs through our legal system.
"Offering free emotional and mental support is a significant step forward to help jurors performing a vital public service who have heard distressing and traumatic evidence in often demanding, long and high-profile cases."
The pilot is funded by the Ministry of Justice, provided by Vita Health Group, and will run for around six months.
'Torture'
At the sentencing of Sara's father and stepmum on Tuesday, Justice Cavanagh said judges must be careful about using the word “torture” and that it should not be “overused”, adding: “But is it no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”
He said that the treatment inflicted on the 10-year-old child was “nothing short of gruesome” and that the cruelty involved was “almost inconceivable”.
He went on to say that none of the defendants had shown a “shred of true remorse”, and that nothing he could do would “provide recompense for the loss of this young child’s life”.
Referencing the change in Sharif’s testimony during the trial, from blaming Batool for the abuse inflicted on Sara, to then admitting he had beaten her but hadn’t meant to kill her, Justice Cavanagh said that Sharif’s “stated remorse” had been “no more than a ploy” and that even after he had made admissions, he continued to “conceal the true extent of (his) cruelty towards Sara”.
Turning to Batool, Justice Cavanagh said: “You were prepared to sacrifice Sara because you did not want to lose your other children.
"Put bluntly, you did not care enough about Sara to save her.”
Justice Cavanagh said Malik should have recognised that what was being done to Sara was “dangerous and wrong and had to be stopped” and yet he had taken “absolutely no steps to protect Sara.”
Clapping erupted from the Old Bailey gallery following the judge's sentencing remarks.
'Sadist'
In her victim impact statement, which was read out to the court, Sara’s mother Olga Domin, paid tribute to her daughter, and said that she was “always smiling” and had “her own unique character”.
Ms Domin continued: “The only thing I had left to give to my daughter was to give her a beautiful Catholic funeral that she deserves.
“Sara is not far from home, and she is visited every day, I always light candles for her and there are flowers with her.
"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.
"I hoped that when she grew up, we would meet but now it won't happen, she left us too soon.”
'Shocked and horrified'
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Chapman from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, said: “This case has shocked and horrified not only those who knew and loved her, but people across the country and around the world.
“Sara’s death has been one of the most difficult and distressing cases that Surrey Police has ever dealt with.
"I would like to thank those who came forward to provide information, and those who gave evidence in such harrowing circumstances.
“I would also like to thank the jury for their careful consideration of the evidence which has been presented throughout this trial, much of which has been extremely disturbing.
James O'Brien reflects on the Sara Sharif story
Sara’s body was found at the family home in Hammond Road, Woking, in the early hours of August 10, 2023, after Urfan Sharif, called police and told them that he had killed his daughter and left her at the address.
A note was found next to her body in Sharif’s handwriting in which he also claimed to be responsible for her death.
The call was made after Sharif, Batool and Malik left the UK to fly to Pakistan with five of Sara’s siblings, aged between 1 and 13 years at the time.
During the call, which lasted eight and a half minutes, Sharif told the operator that he had killed his daughter, and instructed officers to go to the family home.
Sharif said he had “panicked and left home” and said he had “beaten her up too much” but that it wasn’t his intention to kill her.
Sara Sharif relatives arrested on plane at Gatwick Airport
However, he refused to say where he was and gave no indication that the family had flown to Islamabad the night before Sara’s body was found.
It later transpired Batool had booked the one-way tickets for the three adults and five children on August 8, 2023, the day Sara is believed to have died.
An investigation was launched to locate Sharif, Batool and Malik.
On September 13, 2023, Sharif, Batool and Malik left Pakistan and returned to the UK.
They were arrested on suspicion of Sara’s murder and causing or allowing the death of a child as they disembarked at Gatwick Airport.
On December 14, 2023, they appeared at the Central Criminal Court in London where they all pleaded not guilty to both offences.
