Child K.i.l.l.e.r’s Throat Slashed with Tuna Can Lid in Blood-Soaked Prison Ambush – Left Collapsed on Cell Floor
Urfan Sharif, the father convicted of murdering his 10-year-old daughter Sara Sharif, was subjected to a violent attack inside a high-security prison cell on New Year’s Day 2025. Two fellow inmates allegedly throttled him and slashed his neck and face with a bent tin lid fashioned from a tuna can, leaving him bloodied and distressed on the floor of his cell at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London.
Sharif, then 43, had been sentenced only weeks earlier to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years for the murder of Sara. The court had heard how the girl endured a prolonged campaign of physical abuse lasting around two years before her death in August 2023 at the family home in Woking, Surrey. Post-mortem examination revealed more than 70 external injuries, including fractures, burns consistent with a domestic iron, scalding marks, and human bite marks. Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, received a life sentence with a 33-year minimum term for her role in the same murder.
According to details presented in court in August 2026, the alleged attack on Sharif was planned and coordinated. One of the accused is said to have lured him into a cell under the pretext of friendship. Once inside, the second man allegedly punched him repeatedly. The first then applied sustained pressure to his throat before using the improvised tin-lid weapon to make repeated cutting motions toward his neck. Prison officers intervened after hearing disturbances and found Sharif lying on the floor covered in blood, with injuries to his face, mouth, neck, forearm and a finger. His injuries were treated within the prison and were described as non-life-threatening, though he required stitches and was left with scarring.
The two inmates, Steven Sansom, 47, and Adam Watson, 39, were later charged with attempted murder and related offences including grievous bodily harm. Sansom faces an additional charge of possessing an offensive weapon in prison. Both men appeared via video link at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in late August 2026 and were told a plea hearing would take place the following month. Court documents referred to the weapon as a bent tin lid.
The incident highlights the acute vulnerability of high-profile child killers within the prison system. Category A facilities such as Belmarsh house some of the most dangerous offenders in the UK, and individuals convicted of the most serious offences against children often become targets. Sharif had reportedly tried to keep a low profile after arrival, yet knowledge of his crime spread quickly among the inmate population. After the attack he was transferred under heightened security to another prison.
The case of Sara Sharif continues to resonate because of the extreme nature of the abuse she suffered and the family’s subsequent flight to Pakistan, which triggered an international manhunt before their return and trial. The prison assault on her father adds a further chapter of violence to an already deeply disturbing story, raising ongoing questions about the challenges of managing notorious offenders in custody and the informal hierarchies that can form behind prison walls.
Police investigated the assault from the outset. The subsequent charging decisions and court proceedings confirm that the authorities treated the matter with the seriousness of an attempted murder allegation. Sharif remains serving his lengthy life sentence, while the two men accused of attacking him face further legal proceedings.
