Sara Sharif’s father has denied beating his daughter and claimed that he only slapped her, jurors have heard.
Urfan Sharif also claimed he tried to save his 10-year-old daughter and begged for an ambulance, only to be told “Leave it, she’s dead” by his wife.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, the 42-year-old said: “I did slap her. I have lots of flaws in my life, but I never beat her. Never.”
The taxi driver has denied fatally harming the schoolgirl, who was found with a catalogue of injuries, and alleged that he offered to take the blame after fleeing to Pakistan.
He is currently is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murder, along with Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.
Sara was found dead in bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 2023 after Sharif called police from Pakistan to say he had beaten her “too much”.
Jurors have heard she suffered dozens of injuries, including burns and human bite marks, in what the prosecution allege was a campaign of abuse.
On Tuesday, Sharif denied physically abusing and killing Sara as he began to give evidence in his defence.
His barrister, Naeem Mian KC, asked: “Are you responsible for the death of Sara Sharif?”
The defendant replied: “No.”
Sharif also denied that he bit, burned or beat up his daughter with either a cricket bat or a white pole.
Jurors heard that Sharif initially decided to take the blame for Sara’s death and go to Pakistan after Batool claimed that another child had injured her.
Mr Mian suggested that Sharif had wrongly been cast as the “villain of the piece” because he only disciplined her with a “slap”.
Sharif had been working when Sara collapsed at home last August 8 and Batool told him to “come home”, the court heard.
Mr Mian told jurors: “He came home and found her upstairs, with Beinash Batool, limp. He will tell you that he asked ‘What the hell has happened?’, as any one of your number would.
“Having been told what had happened, he said ‘I will take the blame’.
“He will tell you that he attempted CPR, that he begged for an ambulance to be called as he did CPR.
“And he was told in Urdu or Punjabi ‘Leave it, she’s dead, leave it, she’s dead’.”
The barrister cast suspicion on Batool, pointing to her refusal to give dental impressions to compare with bite marks on Sara and WhatsApp messages to her sisters in which she claimed Sharif had beaten his daughter up.
Sharif wept in the witness box as he described his daughter, saying: “She was beautiful, an angel, lovely, bubbly … her favourite food was chicken biryani and she hated eating bread.
“Her hobby was playing guitar and singing, her wish for what she wanted to be when she grew up was a ballet dancer.”
“Her favourite adult was her grandad, my father. Her favourite colour was pink.”
Jurors heard that Sara went to live with her father after he had an acrimonious split from her biological mother, Olga.
During the resulting custody battle allegations “flew around” on both sides, the court was told.
Sharif said he had met his ex-wife online in 2009 and they broke up around 2014.
He alleged that his former wife had “bitten” another child and “abused” Sara during and after their marriage.
Of allegations she levelled at him, he said: “She did accuse me of having an affair with Beinash. She accused me of being controlling. She made accusations of domestic violence and child abuse.
“I was arrested once. When I was arrested I took off my shirt and showed them, actually it was me that was abused by her. Olga admits she was violent towards me.”
Mr Mian told jurors that Batool had supported Sharif throughout the custody battle, despite being “perfectly aware of the allegations” being made against him.
Sharif told jurors he had completed a domestic violence programme for six months despite denying he was ever violent towards his ex-wife. He said he had pleaded guilty to stealing £1,700 but had no other convictions.
The defendant also denied “controlling” his wife Batool, saying they had a traditional relationship – he worked and she was the “boss” at home.
Sharif claimed that in 2016, Batool had hit him on the head with a lemon squeezer when he first wanted to leave and on another occasion attacked him with a broom.
Mr Mian said: “The jury have heard a whole lot of text messages from your wife to her sister and they span a long time, a couple of years, and there are some text messages that say for example, ‘Urfan is beating the crap out of Sara’. Did you ever beat the crap out of Sara?” The defendant denied it.
Mr Mian went on: “Why would the stepmother of Sara send her sister messages saying that you’re beating Sara up when you’re not?”
Sharif replied: “I don’t understand why. I’m not even home at those moments in time, I’m at work.”
All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16 2022 and August 9 2023.
