The jury in Sara Sharif’s murder trial retires to make its decision

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The jury in the trial of Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother and uncle has begun deliberating whether the trio is guilty of murder.

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and his brother Faisal Malik, 29, are all accused of murdering Sara last August after the 10-year-old from Surrey was allegedly abused for years.

Sara was found dead at the family’s Woking home on August 10 after Sharif, from Pakistan, called police to say he had beaten her “too much”.

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During the trial, Sharif confessed to beating Sara with a metal rod, a cricket bat and a mobile phone. He denied putting a hood over her head, burning her with a hot iron and boiling water and biting her.

Batool and Malik denied involvement in the abuse and declined to testify at the trial.

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All three defendants denied murder, causing or enabling the death of a child and the alternative offense of manslaughter.

Mr Justice Cavanagh sent the jury off to begin deliberating the verdict just before 1pm on Thursday.