Two inmates have been charged with the attempted murder of Urfan Sharif, the father convicted of killing his 10-year-old daughter Sara, after he was allegedly ambushed with a sharpened tuna tin lid inside HMP Belmarsh on New Year’s Day last year.
Two men have been charged with the attempted murder of Urfan Sharif, the father of Sara Sharif, following an alleged attack on him inside HMP Belmarsh. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Steven Sansom and Adam Watson have been charged in connection with the attempted murder of an inmate at the high-security prison on New Year’s Day last year, with detectives confirming the victim was Sharif. Sharif, 43, is currently serving a life sentence at Belmarsh after being convicted alongside Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, and uncle, Faisal Malik, of killing the ten-year-old at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey.
Details of the alleged prison attack
According to reports, the alleged attack saw Sharif ambushed inside a cell at the category A prison by two inmates said to have been armed with the jagged lid of a tuna tin. The alleged use of an improvised weapon of this kind illustrates the ongoing difficulty prisons face in preventing inmates from creating makeshift weapons from everyday items, even within high-security settings.
Detectives have confirmed that Sansom and Watson are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 26 August in connection with the charges. It is important to note that the attempted murder allegations are entirely separate from Sharif’s own conviction for Sara’s murder, and that Sansom and Watson have not been convicted of the new charges; the allegations will now proceed through the criminal courts.
Background: Sara Sharif’s murder
Sara Sharif was found dead at her family’s home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023, in a case that shocked the UK. She was discovered with multiple injuries, with prosecutors telling the Old Bailey during the original trial that she had suffered repeated physical abuse over an extended period, rather than dying as the result of a single incident.
Sharif, Batool and Malik initially fled the UK for Pakistan following Sara’s death, travelling with other family members before later returning to Britain, where they were arrested. Following a high-profile trial at the Old Bailey, Sharif was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.
HMP Belmarsh
Sharif is being held at HMP Belmarsh, a category A prison in south-east London that houses some of the country’s most serious offenders. The alleged attack on him, and the resulting charges against Sansom and Watson, have drawn renewed attention to concerns around violence inside high-security prisons, where inmates can still obtain or fashion improvised weapons despite extensive security measures in place.
Given the intense public interest that surrounded Sharif’s original conviction, one of the most closely followed child murder cases in recent UK history, the alleged attack against him in custody is likely to continue attracting significant attention as the case against Sansom and Watson proceeds through the courts.
