Michael Ivers KC, of the Garden Court Criminal Defence team, led Dan Taylor of Red Lion Chambers. They were instructed by Gias Uddin and Aashar Malik of Woolfe and Co. Solicitors.
Following a 10-week trial at the Central Criminal Court, Michael Ivers KC of Garden Court Chambers, leading Dan Taylor of Red Lion 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, including coverage on BBC News.
The Prosecution asserted that since arriving in the UK in December 2022 to study at Portsmouth University, Mr Malik 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 the trial, 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 Mr Malik 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, which undermines the Prosecution’s assertions concerning the location of Mr Malik at material times, both leading up to, and on the day of Sara’s death.
Michael Ivers KC is ranked as a leading silk in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. He has significant experience in defending high-profile cases of murder, attempted murder and manslaughter. Please click here to find out more about his practice.
