Sara Sharif’s father ‘threatened to kill ex-partners’, court hears

Olga moved to the UK and married Mr Sharif. The court heard how one year into the marriage, Mr Sharif was arrested for assaulting Olga and another child, which he dismissed as “false allegations”.

Mr Sharif also denied locking Olga in a room and taking her phone, but said keeping hold of her bank cards was “normal husband and wife behaviour”.

Ms Carberry said: “The fact is at that time you were a gambler, weren’t you? You owed over £17,000 to creditors at that time.

“You used to have a problem with alcohol. You drank to excess at home, didn’t you? Whiskey was your favourite. Did you become angry in drink?”

“Never,” replied Mr Sharif, who rejected the accusation he had an alcohol problem.

In 2011, while still married to Olga, Mr Sharif accepted that he became engaged in an Islamic ceremony to his cousin in Pakistan.

The following May, Olga became pregnant with Sara. The jury heard that as soon as Sara was born she was made the subject of a child protection plan.

On 17 May 2013, a social worker visited the home.

“At that time, [there was] an agreement in place that you, the parents, would alert social services to any marks that you saw on the children,” Ms Carberry told Mr Sharif.

“You told the social worker that [a child] had been accidentally burnt by a BBQ tong when playing football. Why you didn’t report a burn mark to the leg?”

Mr Sharif replied: “We should have told it.”

During a meeting between Mr Sharif and Sara, while Sara was living with a foster carer, a social worker claimed that the girl flinched when being told off by Mr Sharif and appeared surprised when he picked her up and cuddled her.