The heartbroken mother of Sara Sharif has said a hundred years in jail would not be long enough for the tragic girl’s father and stepmum.
Sara, 10, was subjected to two years of torture at the hands of Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool. The pair were both caged for life for Sara’s murder after being sentenced today.
Sharif was told he must spend a minimum of 40 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole. Batool was given a minimum of 33 years. Speaking out following today’s sentencing, Sara’s mum said she at least had some justice for her daughter.
She told The Sun: “If anything has come from Sara’s death is he is off the street and it will be a safer place for women without him. If I could push that syringe for a lethal injection I would do it with a smile on my face.”
The youngster had been the subject of a child protection plan from birth in January 2013 due to concerns she was at risk from Sharif and Olga. Social services were repeatedly called after children including Sara suffered unexplained bruising, bite marks, burns and scratches.
Sharif played on Olga’s broken English and vulnerability. In 2019, he was awarded custody of his daughter. Olga told Polish TV channel Uwaga of her killer ex: “Once, he tried to set me on fire, poured oil on me, but his cousin stopped him. He simply locked me in a room. Locked me in all day until the police arrived.”
Olga fled Britain with her new husband Krzysztof Bednarz weeks after Sara’s murder. A friend said: “She was completely devastated. I don’t think she wanted to stay in the country where such a thing had happened to her daughter. She needed to get away. It’s very sad.”
Olga told The Sun: “It took the death of my baby girl for people to realise he is evil. So many women tried but our voices were never heard because he manipulated everyone. He always saw women as beneath him even though he is a pathetic little man the lengths he was willing to go to for control there was no boundaries.”
Authorities missed a series of chances to save the tragic child, as she was handed back to Sharif and Batool after brief spells in care – despite at least 15 warnings about her dad’s violence. Sharif hit Sara with a cricket bat and iron bar, throttled her, and threw a mobile phone at her head. Even as she lay dying in Batool’s lap last August 8, taxi driver Sharif hit her in the stomach for “pretending”.
Today, Mr Justice Cavanagh described the injuries little Sara suffered. He told the court: “This treatment of a 10-year-old child is nothing short of gruesome.”
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