Sara Sharif’s killer father will likely be scarred for all times after tuna can lid assault in jail – as prisoners say ‘it could not have occurred to a extra deserving man’

Sara Sharif‘s killer father has been scarred for life after a prison ambush in which ‘his neck was slashed with a tuna can lid’.

Two inmates pounced on Urfan Sharif, 43, in his cell on New Year’s Day at HMP Belmarsh, South London. 

Just weeks into his 40-year sentence, the murderer was left in a critical condition, but is understood to have survived the brutal attempt on his life. 

Allegedly the pair were sickened by his treatment of the 10-year-old schoolgirl, who was hooded, bitten, burned and eventually beaten to death during a campaign of abuse before her body was found with at least 71 injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, last year.

A prison source reportedly said the inmates believe the attack ‘couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy’.

The Prison Service and the Metropolitan Police have confirmed officers are investigating an assault at Belmarsh on New Year’s Day.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.’

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said officers were probing ‘an allegation that a prisoner was assaulted at Belmarsh’, adding that ‘the 43-year-old suffered non life-threatening injuries’.

Other inmates at the high security facility include Grindr Killer Stephen Port, Night Stalker Delroy Grant and Danyal Hussein, who murdered two sisters in a London park. 

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Reports suggested the murderer suffered cuts to his neck and face and received medical treatment inside the prison.

A prison source was quoted as saying: ‘Urfan was sliced up badly in his cell by two others who rushed in. It was planned and they used a makeshift weapon — made from the lid of a tin of tuna.

‘He was sliced in the neck and face, and is still in healthcare and in a very bad way.

‘He was lucky to survive, has had to have stitches and will have scars as a permanent reminder of the attack. The guards tried to keep him safe because he obviously had a target on his back after the case was such big news.

‘Something like this was always on the cards, and an attack was probably only a matter of time.

‘Sharif has tried to keep his head down since coming into the jail, but word quickly got round about who he was.

‘Inmates were not happy he is in there with them and, although the other prisoners are in for heinous crimes, a lot of them don’t like people who attack children. A lot of them are saying how it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.’ 

During the trial a court heard that the 10-year-old schoolgirl suffered ‘unimaginable pain’ during more than two years of abuse and was ultimately tortured to death by her father Urfan Sharif, 43, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30.

Mr Justice Cavanagh began his sentencing remarks by describing the degree of cruelty shown towards Sara as ‘inconceivable’, and jailed Sharif to a minimum term of 40 years, Batool to 33 years and Malik to 16 years in prison.

He said Sharif was mainly responsible as Sara’s father while Batool and Malik had not shown any remorse, as he told the court: ‘This poor child was battered with severe force, again and again’ and she was treated as ‘the family servant despite her young age‘.

Sharif and Batool were found guilty of murder last month, while her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing a child’s death.

Sara was injured with a variety of weapons including being scalded with boiling liquid when she was restrained, being beaten with a cricket bat, being hit with a metal pole broken off from a children’s high chair and being burned with an iron.

‘The abuse – which for anyone else would be exceptional – had become normalised for this little girl and you persuaded her that she deserved it,’ the judge said.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge told Batool ‘you did nothing to protect Sara’ but he could not be sure if she ‘actively participated’ until the end.

He said it was ‘clear Sara was singled out amongst the children for this treatment’.

‘I have no doubt that you both cared much less for Sara because she was not Batool’s natural child. She was treated as a skivvy in the family from a very young age.

‘Neither of you had any concern for the happiness or quality of life for this child. You treated her like she was worthless. The degree of cruelty involved was almost inconceivable.

‘The pretext of homeschooling her was a ruse, to cover up and continue the abuse. At the time she was being subjected to despicable abuse, she was also deprived of an education.

‘She was made to wear a hijab to cover up the bruises which were all over her body.

‘Sara was a brave, feisty and spirited child and she wasn’t as submissive as you wanted her to be. I have no doubt that your ego and sense of self importance was boosted by your power over her.

‘She wasn’t badly behaved. She was a normal child. The beatings started when she was six or seven.’

The judge described how Sara was so terrified by the violence she would throw up or wet herself, before being punished further. 

Speaking to Batool, the judge said: ‘Often when Sharif was at work, you would call him home when you thought Sara was misbehaving to deal with it.’

He said to the father: ‘She would throw up because of this campaign of violence and it is hard to contemplate. You punished her Sharif, because of her physical reaction to your abuse.’

Mr Justice Cavanagh said the house was too small for Sara’s uncle Malik to be unaware of the abuse, saying it was ‘preposterous’ to suggest otherwise. He said Sara’s half-siblings would have also heard their father beat Sara.

The judge said rarely had a jury at the Old Bailey had to endure such a case and ‘few [cases] can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child’.

He said that Sharif and Batool made her wear a hijab and put makeup on her to cover up her injuries. 

The judge said of Sharif’s confession to the killing mid-way through his trial: ‘Your stated remorse was nothing more than a ploy.’

‘When she died, she had burn marks on her ankles so it was likely she was tied up and boiling water poured on her ankles.

‘This treatment is nothing short of gruesome. It must have been so painful, especially at the hands of her parents.’

He said the evil father was responsible for the small child’s head injuries and the couple ‘jointly inflicted’ the iron injury on her buttocks.

Sara had six bite marks on her body which were carried out by Batool, who was ‘complicit and comfortable’ with the abuse, said the judge.

He said: ‘She was trussed up with masking tape and skipping rope, even worse she was hooded…this treatment of a 10-year-old is nothing short of gruesome.’

Sharif had met Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, from Poland, online in 2009 and they got married less than a year later, but separated after the mother accused him of abuse. 

Ms Domin, 38, lost a court battle to keep Sara away from Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik. 

The child has been laid to rest in a grave bearing her mother’s surname with flowers, and Ms Domin said she visits every day.

In an emotional tribute to her child, Ms Domin said yesterday: ‘My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon.’