Sara Sharif's stepmum would not call 999, jury told

The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif told a court he gave his daughter CPR after she died and that his wife refused to call for an ambulance.

Urfan Sharif said he came home on the evening of 8 August last year to find Beinash Batool sitting on the floor in the couple's bedroom, holding Sara.

Police found Sara’s body with dozens of injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, two days later.

Mr Sharif, 42, Ms Batool, 30, and Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder at the Old Bailey.

Sara's father said Ms Batool told him the girl had fallen down the stairs while playing with another child, and that now she was “pretending” and “being dramatic".

Mr Sharif said he told Sara to “get up” and took her arm, but it was limp.

“Then I took Sara from Beinash’s lap," he said.

"[Sara] whispered and opened her mouth a bit. [Sara] said she is thirsty and she needs water."

Mr Sharif told the jury that he called for water and put Sara on the bed, but his wife told him to put her on the floor.

“I shouted for an ambulance because I could not hear her breathing, I checked her pulse under the ear, it was none. I had done my first aid training two times,” he said.

He said that he gave Sara CPR for more than ten minutes but Ms Batool told him to stop.

Mr Sharif said that when he asked where the ambulance was, Ms Batool replied: "It’s no point. There’s no need because she’s dead.”

Mr Sharif said he noticed a red mark around Sara's neck, and at this point Ms Batool told a "second story" claiming Sara had been fighting with another child.

Defence barrister Naeem Mian KC asked “Why didn’t you call the police?”

And Mr Sharif replied: “I was thinking about the other kids. They are going to be taken into care.[The child] is going to go to prison.”

That evening Ms Batool called a travel agent to start the process of booking flights for the whole family apart from Sara to go to Pakistan, he said. They left the country the next day.

Hours after Sara had died, Ms Batool also showed Mr Sharif on her phone the difference between murder and manslaughter, jurors heard.

“She is very good at Googling stuff,” Mr Sharif said.

There was a discussion as to whether Mr Sharif or his brother Mr Malik should take the blame for Sara’s death, her father told the court.

When police came to the house after Mr Sharif had called them from Pakistan, there was a handwritten note by Sara’s body that read: “Whoever see this note it’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.”

The jury has been told that Ms Batool and Mr Sharif dispute each other’s version of events.

The trial continues.