Sara Sharif trial murder latest: Schoolgirl’s head ‘covered with homemade hood’ in weeks before death

Sara Sharif’s head was covered with “homemade hoods” made of plastic bags and parcel tape in the weeks before her death, a court has heard on the second day of her murder trial.

The Old Bailey also heard on Tuesday that fingerprints allegedly belonging to the 10-year-old’s father, Urfan Sharif, were found on one of the bags and a bit of parcel tape.

Earlier, jurors were told neighbour Chloe Redwin, who used to live above the family at a previous address in 2020, would hear “shockingly loud” sounds of “smacking” from their home followed by “gut-wrenching screams”, and thought Urfan Sharif was “conscious of the noise his family made, because on occasions he would apologise for it”.

Surrey Police discovered Sara dead in a bedroom at an address on Hammond Road in Woking on 10 August last year.

The court heard on Monday that the child was found with “disturbing” injuries that included bitemarks, scalding and broken bones in what was described as a “campaign of abuse”.

Urfan Sharif, 42, is standing trial before Mr Justice Cavanagh alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 29.

The defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have pleaded not guilty to Sara’s murder and to causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.