Sara Sharif: 10 year old's family plead not guilty to murder
Last updated 14th Dec 2023
The family of 10 year old Sara Sharif have pleaded not guilty to her murder.
Urfan Sharif, Sara's stepmother Beinash Batool and her uncle Faisal Malik are accused of murder after her body was discovered under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, on August 10.
All three appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link on Thursday (14 December) and pleaded not guilty ahead of a trial in September next year.
They also pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16 2022 and August 9 2023.
A previous court hearing was told police found Sara's body after receiving a call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, at 2.47am on August 10.
The court was also told the defendants had booked a flight to the country two days earlier.
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the Old Bailey that Sara was found to have "a constellation of healed and healing injuries".
The day before Sara was discovered, the three defendants left the UK for Pakistan with five children.
The trio returned to the UK on September 13 and were arrested on landing at Gatwick Airport.
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