Sara Sharif’s neighbour by no means noticed the 10-year-old smile and woman’s stepmother mentioned she was being homeschooled after being bullied over her hijab, homicide trial hears
Schoolgirl Sara Sharif‘s neighbour never saw the 10-year-old smile, a murder trial head today.
Sara had at least 71 external injuries inflicted on her and was tortured in the days before she died, the Old Bailey has heard previously.
Her father, taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother, McDonald’s worker Faisal Malik, 29, all deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Their neighbour Judith Lozeron told the court she didn’t see Sara much but thought she was being home-schooled because she was bullied.
But she said: ‘Never was she smiling when I saw her, not one time.’
Ten-year-old Sara Sharif (pictured) had been strangled until a bone in her neck broke, in the weeks leading up to her murder, the Old Bailey has heard
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif (pictured), 42, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his daughter’s murder, alongside Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29
Police later charged Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, (left) and his younger brother Faisal Malik, 29, (right) who were all living in the house at the time of the murder
A post-mortem revealed Sara had suffered ‘multiple and extensive injuries’ over a ‘sustained and extended’ period of time.
Sara was found dead at her semi-detached home in Woking, on 10 August 2023.
Mrs Lozeron lived in the neighbouring property sharing a wall with the Sharif’s after they moved there in early 2023.
She said her and her husband introduced themselves to the family when they moved in and the family were ‘always nicely dressed, always nice and clean and quite smart.’
She said she did not see Sara that much and she did not often play in the garden.
She said she asked Sara’s stepmother Batool how she managed to homeschool her and Batool said it ‘wasn’t hard’ as she had BBC Bitesize programmes.
‘I was told she had been bullied at her last school because she wore a hijab so they decided to keep her at home and homeschool her because of that.
‘I said I thought she should be with children her own age and Beinash replied she was beginning to make friends at the mosque and at the swimming pool and that ended the conversation.’
She said Sara would wear a hijab every time she saw her but she did not see anyone else in the family wearing a head covering.
Prosecutor Ben Lloyd asked the witness: ‘How often did you see Sara?’
Police released this photo of Sara Sherif last September while appealing for information
This Old Bailey court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook shows Sarah Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif (right) and her uncle Faisal Malik (left), as well as stepmother Beinash Batool (centre)
Sara Sharif was restrained with a plastic bag taped around her head in a ‘home-made hood’ and ‘beaten with a cricket bat’, jurors have been told
Footage shows police storming inside Sara Sharif’s home
Distressing handwritten notes were allegedly left by Urfan Sharif which appear to show him confessing to the killing before he fled Britain
‘I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her,’ reads the note allegedly written by Urfan Sharif and later recovered by police
Ms Lozeron replied: ‘Not very often. Sometimes she was picking up washing from the back garden.
‘I saw her a couple of times in the car when they were all going out but really very little.’
Mr Lloyd asked: ‘Do you remember seeing her smiling at any time?’
Ms Lozeron replied: ‘Never was she smiling when I saw her, not one time.’
She said she was told by Urfan that Malik didn’t live in the house but she believed he did as she saw him often.
Mrs Lozeron said she made a special effort to welcome the family and they were friendly and neighbourly in return and said she never heard any particularly loud noises coming from the house.
But Mrs Lozeron said she sometimes heard Urfan speaking very loudly to Batool in the back garden and that the conversations would get ‘heated’.
She said she sometimes did not like the way he spoke about his wife and thought he spoke about her in a ‘belittling’ way.
The neighbour agreed when asked if Urfan presented himself as a ‘a good hardworking father’ and he could be ‘quite charming’.
But on one occasion she saw Urfan belittle Batool and said: ‘I was shocked to see the resignation or expressionlessness on her face.
‘I was watching her when he was sounding off and I was shocked by that expression on her face, which was expressionless, but almost frighteningly so to me.
‘And then I wondered does he do that often inside the house? Is that something she’s used to?’
A court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook depicts Sara Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif (right) and her uncle Faisal Malik appearing via video-link, from Belmarsh prison, last December
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Sara Sharif’s stepmother Beinash Batool appearing via video-link, from Bronzefield women’s prison in Surrey, at the Old Bailey in September last year
This is the footage which shows police storming inside Sara Sharif ‘s home
She said that on one occasion her husband Brenin told Urfan he should not speak about his wife in that way and Urfan never did again.
Mrs Lozeron said the last time she saw Sara was at a family gathering the Sharif’s hosted in their garden on 23 July 2023.
After the killing Sharif fled to Pakistan with Batool and Malik, leaving Sara’s body in the three bedroom house in Woking.
They were arrested more than a month later on September 13 last year at Gatwick Airport having flown back from Dubai.
Sara had likely died on 8 August, two days before Urfan called police.
Sharif, Batool and Malik, all deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
