Sara Sharif’s father has told a court he takes “full responsibility” for the 10-year-old’s death and admitted beating her with a cricket bat and metal pole.
Urfan Sharif told jurors he accepted everything that he had told police in a 999 call and a handwritten confession after his daughter’s death.
During cross-examination by his wife Beinash Batool’s barrister, Caroline Carberry KC, he was asked: “Did you kill your daughter by beating?” He replied: “Yes, she died because of me.”
He admitted he beat Sara “severely” over a number of weeks because he was angry that the schoolgirl had started soiling herself and vomiting.
Sharif, 42, Batool, 30, and Sharif’s brother Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial accused of carrying out a violent “campaign of abuse” before Sara was found dead in a bunk bed at the family home in Surrey on 10 August 2023.
The defendants allegedly killed Sara on 8 August before fleeing to Pakistan, from where Sharif called police to say he had “beat her up too much”. He had left a handwritten “confession” near her fully clothed body saying: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.”
A postmortem examination found Sara had fractures and 71 external injuries, including burns and human bite marks.
Sharif had repeatedly denied being responsible for Sara’s death as he gave evidence at the Old Bailey. But as he was to be cross-examined for the third day, he said: “I want to say something.”
He went on to say: “I want to admit that it’s all my fault. I want the court to consider my full note and confession. That I admit what I said in my phone call and my written note, every single word.”
Carberry asked: “In the weeks before she died, she suffered multiple fractures to her body, didn’t she, and it was you who inflicted those injuries, wasn’t it?”
Sharif replied: “Yes ma’am.”
She asked: “Do you accept inflicting all the injuries?” He replied: “Not the burn marks, not the bite marks. Not the head bruises, not the bruises to her face.”
He was asked what it was that he was accepting and he replied: “I take the full responsibility.”
Carberry asked: “Would it help you if we looked at the injuries graphic?” Sharif replied: “No. I can’t look at that.”
She asked: “Do you accept causing the fractures to you little girl’s body?” He replied: “Yes.”
Carberry asked: “Did you use the cricket bat to inflict those injuries on her?” He replied: “Yes, ma’am.”
She went on: “Did you use the white metal pole to cause those linear marks we can see to her abdomen and legs?” He replied: “Yes, ma’am.”
She also asked: “Did you injure her neck causing the break to her hyoid bone?” He replied: “I don’t know how that happened.”
Carberry also asked him about video shown to jurors in which Sara can be seen dancing two days before she was allegedly killed.
She said: “We know from the material we have that on 6 August, two days before she died, she was walking and dancing and moving around in front of the television and something happened to her after that, and I’m going to suggest to you this is what happened after that on the night of 6 August: you badly beat your daughter. Do accept that?” He replied: “I accept everything.”
She asked again: “Do you accept on the night of 6 August you badly beat your daughter?” He replied: “I accept everything.”
Batool left the dock sobbing and the trial was briefly suspended.
When Sharif returned to the witness stand, he accepted that he took full responsibility for Sara’s death and for killing her by beating.
Carberry asked: “Do you accept that you had been beating Sara severely over a number of weeks?” He replied: “Yes, ma’am.”
He went on to accept attacking Sara with a cricket bat repeatedly and causing the 25 fractures to her body.
Carberry continued: “I want to ask you about the occasions when you assaulted her with a cricket bat. What had she done to deserve such beatings in your mind?” Sharif replied: “Nothing.”
She asked: “Why were you beating her so forcefully?” He replied: “I was wrong.”
She continued: “Were you angry with her because in the summer of last year she had started soiling herself?” He replied: “Yes ma’am.”
She added: “And she had started vomiting, hadn’t she?” to which Sharif replied: “Yes, ma’am.”
Carberry asked: “And when she was sick you would get angry? And when she soiled herself you would get angry?” He replied: “Yes ma’am.”
Sharif admitted intending to cause Sara serious harm during the beatings. Carberry asked: “You knew by hitting her in the way that you did you weren’t just going to cause a little bruise to her body, didn’t you? Do you accept that?” He replied: “Yes, ma’am.”
He accepted beating Sara severely with the cricket bat and metal pole on 6 August and causing injuries to her face and head.
Carberry asked: “Do you accept that during that final serious assault you intended to cause Sara really serious harm?” He replied: “Yes ma’am.”
She continued: “You have pleaded not guilty to the offence of murder. Would you like that charge to be put to you again?” He replied: “Yes ma’am.”
Sharif’s barrister Naeem Mian KC interrupted to say: “My lord, at this stage we would like to make an application to see Mr Sharif before any indictment is to put him.”
All three defendants have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.
The trial continues.