Sara Sharif's father tells court he takes 'full responsibility' for daughter's death
The Guardian|November 14, 2024
Sara Sharif's father told a court yesterday that he took "full responsibility" for the 10-year-old's death and admitted striking her across the abdomen with a metal pole as she lay dying.
Emine Sinmaz
Sara Sharif's father tells court he takes 'full responsibility' for daughter's death

Urfan Sharif also admitted strangling Sara and beating her with a cricket bat while her ankles and wrists were bound with packing tape in the weeks before she was killed. Sharif told jurors at the Old Bailey that 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 Caroline Carberry KC, the barrister for his wife, Beinash Batool, he was asked: "Did you kill your daughter by beating?" He replied: "Yes, she died because of me."

He admitted he had beaten Sara "severely" over a number of weeks because he was angry 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 responsibility 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."

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2024 من The Guardian.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2024 من The Guardian.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GUARDIAN مشاهدة الكل
The Guardian

New year refresh A month-by-month guide to sorting out your finances

Rupert Jones and Hilary Osborne offer a checklist of the vital tasks you need to tackle throughout the year, from filing your tax return to making the most of your holiday cash

time-read
9 mins  |
December 28, 2024
Lost in music How Britain's clubs are disappearing fast - and why they are worth rescuing
The Guardian

Lost in music How Britain's clubs are disappearing fast - and why they are worth rescuing

When the patrons of Watford's Przym nightclub celebrated New Year's Eve a year ago, they were marking the end of an era - or rather, seven eras.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 28, 2024
The Guardian

Nissan shares down 15% as investors react to plan for merger

Shares in the Japanese carmaker Nissan have taken their biggest fall since August's stock market sell-off, as investors turned their attention to the company's planned tie-up with domestic rivals Honda and Mitsubishi.

time-read
1 min  |
December 28, 2024
Climbing out of trouble? Rise in share price suggests BA's turbulent days may be over
The Guardian

Climbing out of trouble? Rise in share price suggests BA's turbulent days may be over

It's been a long and turbulent time since anyone used British Airways' old slogan \"the world's favourite airline\" with a straight face.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 28, 2024
The Guardian

North-south divide flips as EU's periphery beats core economies

The European Central Bank is facing a tough balancing act in 2025, trying to navigate a reversal of fortunes in eurozone economies as the hardest-hit nations of the 2010s debt crisis outperform the traditional core.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 28, 2024
Number of retailers on the brink of collapse up by 25%
The Guardian

Number of retailers on the brink of collapse up by 25%

Footfall levels up 18% on Christmas Eve compared with last year.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 28, 2024
The Guardian

London-listed mining company halts operations in Mozambique

The London-listed mining company Gemfields said yesterday it had temporarily halted its ruby mining operation in Mozambique after groups \"took advantage\" of political unrest to attempt to invade and set fire to its site, resulting in two deaths.

time-read
1 min  |
December 28, 2024
The Guardian

Aid convoy reaches besieged area of Sudanese capital

An aid convoy has reached a besieged area of Khartoum for the first time since Sudan's civil war broke out in April 2023, bringing food and medicines in a country where half of the people are at risk of starvation.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 28, 2024
Mexico The mayor who turned wasteland into a utopia
The Guardian

Mexico The mayor who turned wasteland into a utopia

Mexico City's mayor, Clara Brugada, has never been afraid to court controversy and has taken some imaginative steps in her efforts to undo decades of economic and cultural inequality.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 28, 2024
Crisis on cat island On Aoshima, is time finally running out for human and feline inhabitants?
The Guardian

Crisis on cat island On Aoshima, is time finally running out for human and feline inhabitants?

The reason for Aoshima's nickname is clear before we set foot on the island.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 28, 2024