Teacher saw bruises on face of girl, 10, court hears

Sara Sharif’s teacher twice saw her at school with bruises on her face five months before she was found dead, a jury has heard.

Helen Simmons told the Old Bailey that Sara said she “had fallen over on some roller-skates” after she saw her injuries in March 2023.

Sara’s body was found with dozens of injuries at her family home in Woking in August last year.

Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder. The trial continues.

Jurors previously heard Sara had been hooded, burned, bitten and beaten during more than two years of abuse.

Ms Simmons, who was Sara’s teacher in Year 4 and Year 5, said she saw “a bruise on the underside of her chin and one on her cheek”.

She said that after Sara did not give a consistent account of her injuries, her school, St Mary’s primary in West Byfleet, made a referral to Social Services.

More than two weeks later, Ms Batool “marched towards” her and said Sara had a bruise on her face, the court heard.

“She told me it was made by a pen,” she said.

“She said before I jumped to conclusions again, it was just a pen”

“It was strange. It felt very defensive,” Ms Simmons said.

Ms Simmons also said Sara had twice been taken out of school for home-schooling, once in June 2022, and again after April 2023.

She said on the first occasion the school wanted to understand why and her father and stepmother said “they were worried about her progress at school and her friendships”.

Ms Simmons described Sara as “essentially a happy child”, “often bubbly” and said that “at times she could be sassy”.

“She could be very spirited and quite bold and fierce in what she wanted to say.”

“She loved to be on the stage and singing and performing. That was her happy space.”

Earlier the jury heard from Usman Choudhry and his sister Fatima Choudhry who was a class assistant at Sara’s school.

They both said they had heard Ms Batool swearing at Sara’s siblings in Punjabi.

Mr Choudhry said he had also seen Ms Batool dragging the children.

The court previously heard Mr Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik were arrested in the UK after they had travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, on 9 August 2023, the day before Sara’s body was found.

The three defendants are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they deny.

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