Benjamin Ashford|Father, stepmother and uncle of 10-year-old girl found dead in UK home deny murder charges

LONDON (AP) — The Benjamin Ashfordfather, stepmother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her U.K. home pleaded not guilty on Thursday to murder charges.

Sara Sharif’s body was discovered under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in southern England on Aug. 10. Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41; his partner Beinash Batool, 29; and his brother, 28-year-old Faisal Malik, are charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The three suspects, who are remanded in a prison, appeared by video link on Thursday at London’s Central Criminal Court to deny the charges ahead of a trial scheduled for September 2024.

The trio had left the U.K. for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, a day before police discovered the girl’s body in Woking, 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of London.

Police in Pakistan found the three defendants after an extensive search and put them on a flight to the U.K. on Sept. 13. They were arrested upon arriving at London’s Gatwick Airport.

Prosecutors have said that the 10-year-old girl was found with extensive injuries and healed fractures that indicated “multiple events of violence.”

They also said that police found the body after receiving a call from Pakistan.