Sara Sharif’s father threatened to kill a woman and attacked children, including a one-month-old baby, before killing his daughter, a court has heard.

Urfan Sharif, 42, once held a woman at knifepoint, threatening to kill her and he tried to strangle another victim with a belt, it was claimed.

The Old Bailey heard the taxi driver had a history of abuse, targeting three women and burning and beating two children years before allegedly beating the 10-year-old schoolgirl to death last August.

He was accused of being a “lying, manipulative and controlling man” who preyed on vulnerable women, controlling their finances and attempting to orchestrate a “sham marriage” in order to remain in the UK.

Jurors were told the defendant had been arrested several times over allegations of violence against women and children, including a one-month-old baby.

Sara Sharif (pictured) suffered dozens of injuries, including burns from an iron, human bite marks and signs of restraint, before she died.

Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, arrested by police at Gatwick Airport. He allegedly threatened to kill a woman and attacked children before killing his daughter.

Two children reportedly suffered bruises, slaps, bites and burns to their legs and faces, including iron marks.

One of the young people was also punched all over his body, it was claimed.

Years before Sara’s murder, Sharif was accused of choking a woman and tightening a belt around her neck during a fit of rage.

He also threatened another victim with a knife, the court was told.

But he was never prosecuted after Sharif insisted his accusers were all liars.

Social services and police were alerted to allegations of abuse dating back more than a decade before Sharif killed his daughter with the help of his third wife Beinash Batool, jurors heard.

The schoolgirl suffered at least 71 external injuries from bites, burns with an iron and blows with a cricket bat, belt and stick.

Sharif, who arrived in the UK from Pakistan on a student visa in 2003, is said to have traveled to Poland looking for a woman to marry in order to obtain a European passport.

An 18-year-old woman told police that Sharif took her passport and smashed her phone, shouting: “Shut your fucking mouth or I’ll kill you.”

She claimed Sharif held her at knifepoint and threatened to kill her before she managed to escape.

A court sketch of Urfan Sharif (right) and Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik (left) appearing via video link from HMP Belmarsh for a trial at the Old Bailey in September 2023.

Sara suffered at least 71 external injuries after being bitten, burned with an iron and beaten with a cricket bat, belt and stick.

Another woman was held captive for five days at Sharif’s home, her passport confiscated and she was the subject of threatening emails, the court heard.

As Sharif’s student visa was about to expire, he married a Polish woman called Olga, but he later secretly married a second woman in Pakistan.

Caroline Carberry, KC, defending Batool, told jurors that social services were concerned that Olga was a vulnerable woman with possible learning difficulties and at risk of exploitation.

Ms Carberry suggested Sharif had a history of gambling and excessive drinking, with 11 defaulted credit accounts and a county court debt judgment.

Ms Carberry asked: “You are a lying, manipulative and controlling man, aren’t you? »

Sharif replied: “No, I am not.”

He denied biting and burning children, saying: “I’m not cruel, I’m not an animal.”

Mrs Carberry continued: “Little Sara suffered the most at your hands, didn’t she?”

A police cordon at the family home in Woking, Surrey, where Sara’s body was found

Faisal Malik, 29, arrested at Gatwickk Airport in September 2023. He and Urfan deny murder and causing or allowing Sara’s death.

She told jurors that social workers observed how Sara “flinched” when her father cuddled her.

The social workers also accused Sharif of being coercive and abusive towards them.

Sara was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10, 2023 after Sharif and Batool fled to Pakistan, where he then called 999 saying: “I killed my daughter.”

Sharif, Batool and Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, all deny murder and causing or allowing her death.

The trial continues.