Sara Sharif neighbours 'heard child screaming' before girl found dead with 'bite marks and burns'

The ten-year-old girl had 10 fractures to her spine and breaks to her right collarbone, two ribs, both shoulder blades, both arms and hands and three fingers, a court head

A neighbour has described hearing screaming coming from the home of ten-year-old Sara Sharif before she was found dead. Her body was later found with bite and burn marks on in, a court has heard.

The Old Baily heard how former neighbour, Rebecca Spencer, heard noises “from the moment” the Sharif family moved into a flat on Eden Grove in Surrey, back in 2018 to 2019. Prosecutor, William Emlyn Jones, said that screams would often be followed by 'deathly quiet.'

Ms Spencer thought the “banging and rattling” sounded like “someone was banging on and pushing at a door” as if trying to open it. Mr Emlyn Jones read a statement from Ms Spencer which said: "On the occasions I would hear these banging and rattling sounds, they would often be accompanied by the sounds of a child crying or a screaming, followed by complete silence.

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"On those occasions I can only describe the silence as ‘deathly quiet’ and I cannot even imagine what had happened to make the crying or screaming child become immediately silent.”

Chloe Redwin, who was also a neighbour to the family, said she heard “shockingly loud” sounds of smacking that were followed by “gut-wrenching screams” coming from home. Ms Redwin, who moved into the neighbouring property on Eden Grove in September 2020, said she heard screams followed by a woman shouting “shut the f*** up” and “go to your room you f****** b******”, The Mirror reports.

Ms Redwin said she heard shouting and screaming at “any time of the day or night”, but that she noticed it did not occur when the “father of the household” was at home. She said she “often” said hello to Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and that she thought he was “conscious of the noise his family made, because on occasions he would apologise for it”.

Both Ms Redwin and Rebecca Spence, said Sara was always well-dressed and that they never saw her with any signs of injuries. Her lifeless body was found last year after her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, fled the country with his family on August 10.

The tragic youngster had 10 fractures to her spine and breaks to her right collarbone, two ribs, both shoulder blades, both arms and hands and three fingers, a jury heard. There also appeared to be five bite marks on her left arm, one on her inner thigh and a burn mark from an iron on her buttocks.

Sharif, Sara's stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, all deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16, 2022 and August 9, 2023.

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