A father, stepmother and uncle have pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of ten-year-old Sara Sharif.
Urfan Sharif, 42, Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 28, are accused of murder after her body was discovered under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10.
All three appeared by video link at a plea hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday ahead of a trial in September next year.
A previous court hearing was told police found Sara’s body after receiving a call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, at 2.47am on August 10.
The court was also told the defendants had booked a flight to the country two days earlier.
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the Old Bailey that Sara was found to have “a constellation of healed and healing injuries”.
The day before Sara was discovered, the three defendants left the UK for Pakistan with five children.
The trio returned to the UK on September 13 and were arrested on landing at Gatwick Airport.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
