Urfan Sharif, the father of Sara Sharif, has reportedly had his throat slashed by two inmates at HMP Belmarsh in South London.

The 43-year-old was attacked with a jagged lid of a tuna can in his cell on New Year’s Day, The Sun newspaper reported.

A source told the newspaper that Sharif was left in a critical condition and was receiving treatment in the prison’s hospital.

A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed to the BBC: "Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Belmarsh on 1 January.

"It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate."

Urfan Sharif and Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, were both jailed for life in December for years of horrific “torture” and “despicable” abuse of the 10-year-old girl, which culminated in her murder.

Sara suffered “unimaginable pain, misery and anxiety” as she was repeatedly beaten, burned, bitten and restrained at the family home in Horsell, Surrey, the trial at the Old Bailey heard.

The couple were both found guilty of her murder, with Sharif handed a minimum jail term of 40 years and Batool given 33 years.

A prison source said: “Urfan was sliced up badly in his cell by two others who rushed in. It was planned and they used a makeshift weapon made from the lid of a tin of tuna.

“He was sliced in the neck and face, and is still in healthcare and in a very bad way.

“He was lucky to survive, has had to have stitches and will have scars as a permanent reminder of the attack. The guards tried to keep him safe because he obviously had a target on his back after the case was such big news.

“Something like this was always on the cards, and an attack was probably only a matter of time.”

In his sentencing at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Sara’s death “was the culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as torture”, mainly at the hands of Sharif.

The senior judge said her “despicable treatment” took place in “plain sight and in front of the rest of the family”.

Sara was found dead in a bunkbed at her home in Horsell, Surrey, after her father rang police from Pakistan to confess he had beaten her “too much”.

She had suffered 71 “fresh” injuries including 25 broken bones, iron burns on her bottom, scalding marks to her feet, and human bites.

Sharif had hit her with a cricket bat and iron bar, throttled her, and thrown a mobile phone at her head, jurors had heard.

Sara was also tied up with packaging tape and her head covered with a makeshift hood during regular bouts of violence that would have left her in excruciating pain, jurors had heard.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was also found guilty of causing or allowing her death and was jailed for 16 years.

Within hours of Sara’s death, Sharif and Batool had booked flights to Pakistan for the whole family, including her five siblings and half siblings.

The defendants returned to the UK on September 13 2023, leaving the children behind, and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport.