A video of the moment Sara Sharif’s alleged killers were detained on a plane at Gatwick Airport was played in court, with the 10-year-old’s stepmother telling officers: “I think you’re looking for us.”
The trio were detained after fleeing to Pakistan on 8 August last year, the day after Sara died at the family home in Woking, Surrey, having suffered a number of injuries.
Beinash Batool, 30; Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 42; and her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, were caught on CCTV preparing to board a flight from Heathrow Airport after organising a last-minute trip shortly after the girl’s death.
Surrey Police found Sara’s body in a bunkbed after Sharif called from Pakistan to say that he had beaten her “too much” for being “naughty”.
The young girl had suffered dozens of injuries, including burns and human bite marks, in what the prosecution alleges was a “campaign of abuse” culminating in her death.
On 6 September 2023, a press conference in Pakistan was broadcast featuring Sharif and Batool, who complained the family was being harassed.
On 13 September last year, police received information that the three defendants would be arriving at Gatwick Airport on a flight from Dubai that evening.
On Friday, jurors were shown clips from officers’ body-worn cameras capturing the moment police boarded the plane and detained the defendants at 7.42pm - seven minutes after touchdown.
As officers approached, Batool raised her hand and said: “I think you’re looking for us.”
Sharif, who had been sitting next to her, was asked if he had any items or bags on the flight and replied that he did not.
After being taken off the plane, the defendants were arrested and put into police vans.
The following day, each defendant was interviewed by police but chose to make no comment.
All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.
The Old Bailey trial continues.
