Sara Sharif’s family to appeal against sentences for murder after subjecting girl to ‘horrific’ abuse
17 January 2025, 00:59
The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif are seeking to appeal against the sentences they received for her murder, after the death of the 10-year-old girl following years of "horrific" abuse.
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The 10-year-old suffered "unimaginable pain, misery and anxiety" as she was repeatedly beaten, burned, bitten and restrained by her family at her home in Woking, Surrey, a trial at the Old Bailey heard.
Urfan Sharif, 42, and Beinash Batool, 30, were sentenced to a minimum of 40 years and 33 years respectively after Sara was 'beaten to death', with the judge highlighting “the degree of cruelty involved is almost inconceivable”.
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.
It is understood that all three have now made an application to the Court of Appeal with a view to appealing against their sentences.
It comes after calls were made to name three judges who oversaw historical family court cases related to Sara, as well as others including social workers and guardians.
The sentencing of Sara's three family members came after the trio were convicted of causing or allowing her death by a jury at the Old Bailey last week.
In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Cavanagh explained that Sara had suffered over 70 fresh injuries and 25 fractures.
“Few could have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this child,” he said.
The judge confirmed the parents' sentences fell into "Category A" of the sentencing guidelines, with their neglect labelled "extreme" by the judge following the child's "harrowing” injuries.
Speaking of the "brave" and "courageous" child's final moments, the judge, Mr Justice Cavanagh, pointed out that "the last thing Sara felt before she died was her father beating her for faking injury".
The judge said violence had become "normalised in the household" and that Sara "knew nothing else".
Sara Sharif's broken and battered body was found in her family home on August 10 last year.
She suffered 96 injuries, including fractures, burns and bite marks, with the judge calling the injuries “nothing short of gruesome.”
Within hours of Sara's death, Sharif and Batool had booked flights to Pakistan for the whole family, including her five siblings and half siblings.
The defendants returned to the UK on September 13 2023, leaving the children behind, and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport.
Her father Urfan Sharif, 43, was ambushed by two inmates in his cell in HMP Belmarsh on New Year's Day. He had his throat sliced open with the jagged lid of a tuna can.
Stressing that judges are reluctant to describe abuse as "torture", the judge said: “It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”
Describing the burns to the 10-year-old's buttocks as 'one of the most disturbing incidents of the whole case", the judge said the injuries were sustained two weeks before her death and would have led to “permanent disfigurement”.
The child sustained “eleven separate fractures to her spinal column” resulting from “multiple episodes of violence”.
Turning to her father, the Mr Justice Cavanagh said: “your remorse is no more than a ploy”.
He spoke of how Sara had been “singled out” from her five other siblings for abuse by her parents, with the judge adding: “I’m in no doubt you cared much less for Sara than for your other children”.
“Sara was treated as a skivvy for the family,” he said, adding: "you treated her as if she was worthless”.
Highlighting Beinash Batool's reluctance to curb the abuse, the judged said the stepmother “cared less about Sara because she’s not your natural child”.
"You did not care enough about Sara to save her,” he admitted. “You punished her because of her physical reaction to your abuse”
Highlighting the wider issue of homeschooling, the judge said: “This case brings into sharp relief the unsupervised homeschooling of vulnerable children."
"The degree of cruelty involved is almost inconceivable,” with the judge highlighting the parents’ abilities to “hide” the child’s injures “at will”.
Turning to her Uncle, Faisal Malik, the judge added that it was “inconceivable” and “preposterous” that “you were not around for any” of the beatings or times the child was tied up.
Concerns about Sara's care were raised within just a week of her birth in 2013, with her parents known to social services as early as 2010.
There were three sets of family court proceedings, but allegations surrounding Sara's father physically abusing her and her siblings were never tested in court.
Surrey’s children’s services are said to have ignored multiple warnings from Ofsted that children in the area were being failed like Sara.
It follows Sara Sharif's mother, Olga Sharif, describing her daughter's killers as "sadists", "cowards" and "executioners".
Earlier in the sentencing, a victim impact statement was read to the court, with Sara's mother noting: "Sara was always smiling. She had her own unique character.
"The only thing I had left to give to my daughter was to give her a beautiful Catholic funeral that she deserves."
"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.
Following the verdict, Maria Neophytou, acting CEO of the NSPCC, said: “With the sentencing of Sharif and Batool for Sara Sharif's murder and Mailk for allowing her death, this shocking and heart-breaking court case has concluded. But it is vital that we do not allow the memory of Sara and what she was made to suffer to fade.
“The Child Safeguarding Practice Review must undertake an exhaustive search for answers so we can understand how this horrific abuse was able to happen, and for so long. The recommendations must then be quickly implemented, to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in Surrey, and across the UK.
“At the same time the Government must recognise something more fundamental has to change. Sara has now joined a lengthening list from recent years, which also includes Arthur Labinjo Hughes, Star Hobson and Alfie Phillips, where horrific abuse from a parent or carer has directly led to the death of a young child.
“To significantly reduce the likelihood of more of these terrible cases emerging, there needs to be substantial, nationwide, reform and investment in the services which we rely on to keep our children safe.”
