Dramatic video has revealed the moment Sara Sherif’s father, stepmother and uncle were arrested within minutes of their flight touching down at Gatwick Airport.
Footage released by Surrey Police this afternoon shows the girl’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, being arrested at the airport on September 13 last year after returning to the UK from Pakistan.
The 11-second clip shows officers approaching the family, who are still sitting on the plane, in which Batool raises her hand and says ‘I think you’re looking for us’.
All three are expressionless in separate clips, as an officer tells them of the discovery of Sara’s body by police and that they are being arrested for the girl’s murder.
Sharif and Batool were today found guilty at the Old Bailey of murdering the 10-year-old girl, while Malik was convicted of causing or allowing her death. The trial heard that Sara died after years of horrific abuse, including being burned, bitten and beaten.
The defendants had fled to Pakistan after Sara died at the family home in Woking, Surrey, on August 8, 2023. Sharif called police when he arrived in Islamabad and confessed he had beaten her up ‘too much’.
Bodycam footage of Beinash Batool being arrested at Gatwick Airport in September 2023
Bodycam footage of Urfan Sharif being arrested at London Gatwick Airport in September 2023
Bodycam footage of Faisal Malik being arrested at Gatwick Airport in September 2023
Officers went to his former home and found Sara’s broken and battered body in a bunk bed, with a confession note from Sharif on the pillow.
After today’s verdicts, police released other videos showing all three defendants being interviewed on September 14, 2023 – the day after they were arrested at Gatwick.
In a 68-second clip, Batool replies ‘No comment’ to seven questions from officers, including ‘Do you love Sara?’, ‘Did you care about her at all?’, ‘What did you see?’ and ‘What happened to Sara?’.
At the start of the video Batool, wearing a black long-sleeved garment and smiling slightly, confirms her identity and responds ‘killing someone’, when asked what her understanding was of murder.
Another video shows Malik replying ‘no comment’ when asked by police who was responsible for the girl’s death and when an officer explains that she thinks he was either ‘actively involved’ in torturing Sara or was ‘sat there going ‘it’s not my problem, I can’t do anything”.
Beinash Batool, 30, during a police interview on suspicion of Sara’s murder, in September 2023
A Surrey Police image of Faisal Malik, 29, the uncle of Sara Sharif, during a police interview
Taxi driver Sharif is seen in a separate clip providing a handwriting sample of the words ‘love you Sara, maybe I will be back before you finish the post-mortem’, almost the same words that were in a note found next to the girl’s body.
Asked by police what he can tell them about the note, Sharif replies ‘No comment’. Wearing a white polo shirt and jeans, he sat with his arms folded.
After the trial, police also released footage of Sara sitting on a black leather sofa, singing and playing guitar and dancing, in what appears to be a playground.
A post-mortem examination found Sara had more than 25 broken bones, from being hit repeatedly with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone.
She had a broken hyoid bone in her neck from being throttled, human bite marks on her arm and thigh and burn marks on her buttocks and feet.
Mr Justice Cavanagh adjourned sentencing until next Tuesday, telling jurors the case had been ‘extremely stressful and traumatic’.
Sara Sharif died aged ten at the family home in Woking, Surrey, on August 8 last year
A grab from a video issued by Surrey Police of Sara Sharif singing and playing a guitar
Sara was beaten to death four years after taxi driver Sharif was awarded custody, despite accusations of abuse against him, jurors heard.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said Sharif had gone on to create a ‘culture of violent discipline’, where assaults on Sara had ‘become completely routine, completely normalised’.
He alleged Sharif had meant to cause her serious harm and the other two defendants took part in the abuse, encouraged or helped him.
The convictions raise questions about the past involvement of the family court and social services in Sara’s case.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza called for change and said the case highlighted ‘profound weaknesses in our child protection system’.
She said: ‘Sara’s death must also bring about an immediate shift in how we protect children like her.’
Urfan Sharif, 42, was emotionless as he was found guilty of murdering his daughter
Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, wept as she was found guilty of murdering the girl
Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child
Sara had suffered more than 25 broken bones, from being hit repeatedly with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone.
She had a broken hyoid bone in her neck from being throttled, iron burns on her buttocks, boiling water burns on her feet, and human bite marks on her arm and thigh.
There was also evidence she had been bound with packaging tape and hooded during the assaults, which would have left her in excruciating pain, jurors heard.
Batool had told her sisters that Sharif would regularly ‘beat the c**p’ out of Sara over the course of more than two years, but failed to report what was going on.
By January 2023, Sara began wearing a hijab to cover up the bruises at school.
Teachers noticed marks on her face and referred her to social services in March of that year, but the case was dropped within days.
The following month, Sara was taken out of school and the violence against her intensified in the weeks before her death.
Sara suffered broken bones from being hit with a cricket bat, pictured above in evidence
Beinash Batool speaking alongside Urfan Sharif in an undated video issued by Surrey Police
A Surrey Police photo of a white pole shown in court as evidence during the murder trial
On August 8, Sara collapsed and Batool reacted by summoning Sharif home and calling her family 30 times.
Sharif’s reaction to finding his daughter lying close to death in Batool’s lap was to ‘whack’ her in the stomach twice with a pole for ‘pretending’, jurors heard.
Within hours of Sara’s death, the couple were arranging flights to Pakistan for the next day for themselves and the rest of the family.
The defendants returned to the UK on September 13, 2023, and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport.
Giving evidence in his trial, Sharif initially blamed Batool for the violence, claiming he was working when his daughter was abused.
On the seventh day of his evidence, he dramatically changed his story and took ‘full responsibility’ for Sara’s death.
Jurors appeared tearful and shocked and Batool wailed in the dock throughout his confession.
He admitted hitting Sara repeatedly with a cricket bat and pole, strangling her with his bare hands, and battering her over the head with a mobile phone.
Sara was failed by authorities after a decade of missed opportunities to stop her violent father
Sara Sharif had suffered more than 25 broken bones from being hit repeatedly
He denied burning her or putting a hood over her head during ‘punishments’ for her so-called ‘naughty’ behaviour.
Later, he backtracked on his confession and claimed he did not mean to seriously harm Sara, despite having earlier indicated he wanted to change his plea.
Under cross-examination, it was alleged two other children he was connected with had been burned and bitten and he was the ‘common denominator’.
Although the bites on Sara’s body did not match Sharif’s teeth, it was alleged he could have encouraged Batool, who alone refused to give a set of her tooth impressions.
It was alleged that he had been controlling and manipulative towards Batool, as well as Sara’s mother Olga and two Polish ex-girlfriends.
Batool and university student Malik refused to give evidence but denied involvement.
It was claimed on Batool’s behalf that Sharif was the ‘sole perpetrator’ of the violence against his ‘spirited, bold and fierce’ daughter.
Caroline Carberry KC said: ‘No doubt that spirit, that boldness from his daughter, was what Urfan Sharif tried to silence with his beating, control, cruel punishment and degrading treatment of her.
‘Terrorising not just Sara but everyone else who lived under the roof with him.’