Dan Taylor secures not guilty verdicts in Sara Sharif murder trial

Following a 10-week trial at the Central Criminal Court, Dan Taylor, led by Michael Ivers KC of Garden Court Chambers, secured the acquittal of Faisal Malik for the murder and manslaughter of his 10 year old niece, Sara Sharif. Mr Malik was found guilty of a lesser alternative offence of causing/allowing the death of a child. The case has attracted significant national and international press coverage.

The Prosecution asserted that since arriving in the UK in December 2022 to study at Portsmouth University, Dan’s client had been part of a campaign of appalling abuse towards Sara prior to her death on 8 August 2023 and had participated, assisted, and/or encouraged her murder. Her injuries included numerous fractures, bruises, lesions, burns and bite marks. It was said that following Sara’s death, the family fled to Pakistan before returning to the UK in September 2023, when they were arrested on arrival.

At trial, the defence strategy focused on undermining key pillars of the Prosecution case, including the medical, CCTV and cell-site evidence. As the trial developed, issues arose regarding causation and whether Sara’s death was as a result of a “constellation of injuries”, as initially contended by the Prosecution, or a “final act” proximate to her death, causing a fatal brain injury, for which it was said that Dan’s client could not have been present.

Many hundreds of hours of CCTV footage were viewed by the defence team and considered in conjunction with cell-site evidence and banking transactions to create an alternative narrative regarding Mr Malik’s movements and undermine Prosecution assertions concerning the location of Mr Malik at material times both leading up to and on the day of Sara’s death.

Dan is ranked in both Chambers and Partners and as a Leading Junior in the Legal 500. He has significant experience in defending high-profile cases of murder, attempted murder and manslaughter.

Dan and Michael were instructed by Gias Uddin and Aashar Malik of Woolfe and Co. Solicitors.

[BBC News]