‘She died because of me’ – five words that changed Sara Sharif’s trial.

On the morning of November 13, four weeks into the murder trial of 10-year-old Sarah Sharif, there was a dramatic moment that left jurors speechless and an Old Bailey courtroom horrified.

Sara’s father Irfan Sharif was not present in the witness box on the seventh day of testimony when he suddenly trembled and uttered five words that would change the course of the trial.

“She died because of me.”

By this time, he had denied almost everything, instead blaming his wife – Sarah’s stepmother – for her death. Now he was suddenly taking full responsibility for his daughter’s death.

It was the decisive moment in the eight-week murder trial, which was tense and heartbreaking for the jurors to sit through. They hear the horrific details of Sarah’s short, desperate life – the torture, the beatings, the injuries – and watch the courtroom drama of a husband and wife turning on each other.

Warning: This article contains descriptions of physical abuse.

The trial began just over a year after Sarah was found dead in a bunk bed in her home – alone and abandoned by her family.

Inside the glass-paneled dock at London’s Old Bailey were three men accused of her murder. Sara’s father Irfan Sharif, her stepmother Benish Batul and her uncle Faisal Malik. They were separated by postal officers but I thought they were too close for comfort.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn-Jones QC said at the start of the trial that “there is a cold-blooded dispute between the defendants.”

Sharif was smartly dressed in a white collared shirt and black jacket. He was much thinner than the pictures we had seen of him. Batul wore gold glasses and a mustard jacket, with his hair tied back.

In the weeks they spent together in the dock, I never once saw them make eye contact. Most of the time they looked ahead. Sometimes they would look down at the bundle of evidence.

On the days when Batul arrived first, her husband had to walk inches away from her to reach his seat. They never turned towards each other and they never spoke.

Both used to cry often. His cries filled the courtroom. One day the proceedings had to be suspended when Sharif got upset and walked out of the court.

He would call his wife a “psycho” from the witness box, only to take it back later. One day he said “liar” while he was testifying.

The first days of the trial were particularly shocking. The prosecutor said Sarah’s treatment was cruel.

His broken bones were X-rayed on screens. Computer-generated images showed extensive injuries to his body. “I’m afraid you may also find the imagery disturbing,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Mr Emlyn Jones KC took us through dozens of horrific injuries, both old and new – fractures and refractures, puncture wounds and abrasions, burns, blisters and bite marks.

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Sarah had a stomach injury and a traumatic brain injury.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, there was even more disturbing and saddening evidence, that Sarah had been repeatedly tied up or restrained. You could feel the lingering sense of dread in the courtroom.

In court, the prosecutor took us inside the house in Woking, Surrey, where Sarah lived and where she was eventually murdered.

We saw horrifying footage from an officer’s body-worn camera of the moment police arrived to discover his body. The police officer who found Sarah recalled how he had “pulled back the cover and under it was the body of a 10-year-old girl”.

Some witnesses gave evidence from behind a curtain, shielded from the defendants and the public. One of them was Sarah’s primary school teacher. It was Helen Simmons who first brought Sarah’s character to life during the trial.

He described his former pupil as “often bubbly” and a girl who “could be sassy at times”. She said her “happy place” was on stage singing and performing.

There were other deeply moving moments during the trial.

In a video we saw Sarah dancing at home two days before she died. Batul cried while playing. In another we hear Sarah’s voice, playing in the garden with other children on a sunny day two months before she died.

Just over three weeks have passed in the trial of Sharif’s barrister Naeem Mian KC.

“What’s going to happen now,” he said, “is Mr. Sharif is going to make the longest walk of his life from the dock to the witness box.” There was silence in the courtroom.

Sarah’s father, slightly built and dressed in a white woolen top and jeans, appeared at the door of the dock and led the trio down into the courtroom.

He was already agitated as he stepped into the witness box, pulling tissues from the box in front of him. Once he sat down slowly next to his barrister and carefully guided him through his version of events. He spoke quietly and occasionally mumbled.

For the next six days, Sharif maintained that his daughter’s death had nothing to do with him. He admits to slapping Sarah, but denies killing her. He placed the blame squarely on his wife, saying he was never there when the abuse happened. Turns out he was an extraordinary liar.

During his evidence he was extremely emotional and cried several times, often struggling to get his words out. “My Sarah,” he would say again and again. Through tears, she spoke of her “beautiful angel” whose favorite food was chicken biryani and favorite color pink.

“Were you close to him?” asked his barrister. “Yes,” replied Sharif.

When her daughter died in her arms, she said she felt “numbness”. “I was crushed. The whole world collapsed on me.”

As he tried to explain to the jury, he began rehearsing.

A dramatic moment came on the second day of Sharif’s martyrdom. Loud and emotional, Sharif pointed at his wife in the dock, calling her “psycho” and “evil”.

But it was under forensic cross-examination by his wife’s barrister that Sharif finally cracked.

Caroline Carbery KC sheds light on her past, ex-partners she allegedly threatened to kill and arrests for false imprisonment she was never charged with.

“You are a lying, manipulative, controlling man,” Ms Carberry KC said.

He stood her up for her questions and took her to task when she again pointed to her client in the dock.

It was on the seventh day of his martyrdom that everything changed.

Sharif was being questioned about the birth of one of his children. He began to try to stop her, while she continued to try to get him to answer questions.

Eventually he managed to get it out. “I want to say something.”

“I admit what I said in my phone call and in my written note, every word.”

There was a pause as everyone took in what was said.

Then Ms Carberry KC ran alongside him, grabbing a copy of the note she had left next to her daughter’s body. She started passing him row by row.

“Did you beat your daughter to death?” “Yes,” he replied, “she died because of me.”

“It was you who gave him these wounds, wasn’t it?” “Yes,” he said.

“Do you accept the cause of the fracture?” “Yes ma’am.” “Did you use a cricket bat?” “Yes ma’am.” “Did you use a white metal pole?” “Yes ma’am.”

Surprise turned to shock and shock turned to horror, as he agreed to more and more brutal acts. Some judges sat with their mouths open.

“I take full responsibility for everything,” he said.

He was shaking and crying. Batul was sobbing in the dock.

Sharif’s barrister was also completely surprised. “I had absolutely no idea he was going to do that. Can you imagine my reaction when it happened? He would tell the jury later.

Finally, Batul ran out of the court crying and the hearing was adjourned. Some jurors were seen crying afterwards.

Sharif kept denying the burn and cut marks on Sarah.

Ms Carbery KC asked Sharif if he wanted to be charged with the murder again.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, before his barrister interrupted and asked to speak to her.

When the court called again, Sharif said that I did not accept that he was guilty of murder. “I didn’t mean to kill him,” he said.

Sharif spent nine days in the witness box. We’ll never know what finally cracked him. The pressure to maintain his elaborate lies? Or the feeling that there was no way out?

The jury never got to hear from Sarah’s stepmother. Batul refused to give evidence. So we never hear him explain why he refused to provide dental impressions for comparison with the bite marks found on Sarah. Both Sharif and Malik were rejected as a match.

We will also never know who lit the iron under Sarah. Sharif insisted that it was not him.

One day the prosecutor suggested that it would take two people to catch Sarah and burn her. “Who was that?” he asked.

“I don’t know, sir, will there be children?” Sharif replied. “How low will you stoop?” The prosecutor replied.

What we do know is that Batul knew for at least two years that her husband was beating Sarah.

Ultimately, the jury was convinced that Sharif was not alone in killing the 10-year-old. Batul had either assaulted Sara, or at least encouraged or aided Sharif in carrying out some of the brutal attacks. And these people either caused or contributed to his death.

Finally, Batul was the primary caregiver for the children in the home.

Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik also refused to give evidence in the case.

The jury will be convinced of the prosecution’s case – that he knew what was going on in the house and did not take reasonable steps to stop or prevent the violence that led to Sarah’s death.

As the court gathered to hear the verdict, the judge called for silence and respect.

Both Sharif and Batul were found guilty of murder. Malik, acquitted of Sarah’s murder, was found guilty of causing or permitting her death. Sharif looked straight ahead, while Batul wept and Malik wept as the verdicts were delivered.

The three were led out of the dock and down to the cells, ending the trial.

Weeks of quiet fear in the courtroom turned into deep sadness for Sarah – a confident, talkative and caring 10-year-old girl with big dreams of becoming a ballet dancer.

Additional reporting by Daniel Sandford.