In the know

On 17 December 2024, the father and stepmother of 10-year-old Sara Sharif were sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of her murder following a ten-week trial at The Central Criminal Court in London. Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 42, was ordered to serve a minimum term of 40 years, while Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, was given a minimum term of 33 years. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing Sara’s death. Passing sentence, Justice John Cavanagh described Sara as a “beautiful little girl” who was “full of personality”. He went on to say that she was a “very courageous little girl” with an “unquenchable spirit”, who loved to sing and dance. Justice Cavanagh said that “Judges must be careful about using the word ‘torture’. It should not be overused. But is it no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.” He said that the treatment inflicted on a 10-year-old child was “nothing short of gruesome” and that the cruelty involved was “almost inconceivable”. He went on to say that none of the defendants had shown a “shred of true remorse”, and that nothing he could do would “provide recompense for the loss of this young child’s life”. During the trial, the court heard how Sara had been brutally mistreated, abused and subjected to violent assaults which eventually resulted in her tragic death in August 2023. Following an extensive investigation by Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, Sharif, Batool and Malik were all convicted for their parts in the death of Sara. 

We recently received a report of three men pretending to be car parking attendants at Sunbury Cross Centre, in order to steal money of unsuspecting members of the public. This particular incident took place on 14 December and involved three men posing as car parking attendants and asking drivers to pay for their parking through a card machine. The machine then swallows the card, which they then steal and use. We wanted to share this new type of scam with you for your awareness - please only pay for parking through the official ticket machine or online app that is advertised on the parking machine. If you are approached by anyone suspicious who asks you to pay for parking via a portable machine, please report to us at Report | Surrey Police so that we can build the bigger picture as to who these people are and where they are targeting.

Charges have been secured in several investigations into incidents of shoplifting. Tim Mahlangu, 24, (DOB: 19/10/00) of New Haw, Surrey, has been charged and remanded with eight separate offences relating to Co-Op, Marks & Spencer and Tesco stores between August and December this year. He will appear at Staines Magistrate Court this morning (16/12). In a separate investigation, a man has been charged with conspiracy to steal following a series of shoplifting offences across North Surrey involving losses from Tesco stores between 2022 and 2024 totalling around £40k. Nicolae Budencea, 36 (DOB 25/05/88) of Dagenham, has been charged and was remanded into custody following a hearing at Staines Magistrates Court. He will next appear on January 16, 2025. A second male arrested in connection with the enquiry has been bailed pending further enquiries. Another man has been charged with five counts of shoplifting and a public order offence for incidents mainly at Lidl stores. Eugeniyus Gaiolis, 36 (DOB: 11/03/88) of Hounslow, has been charged in connection with a series of thefts where confectionary was taken and one incident where a member of staff was threatened. He is due to appear in court in 2025. Organised retail crime remains a concern nationally and we are working closely with retailers to identify individuals who appear to be targeting stores for the purposes of financial gain. This type of offending will not be tolerated in Surrey.

Our Roads Policing Unit aren’t just looking for drink and drug drivers this month. On a check site in Hersham recently D Rota arrested a driver and passenger after a vehicle search uncovered a large amount of cash and Class A, B, and C drugs. This was a random stop, and officers had no idea what they might find when they pulled the vehicle over. These stop sites will be running throughout December across the county. We have made more than 30 arrests for drug driving so far this month and carried out over 100 drug tests at the roadside. Drug driving is just as dangerous as drink driving and carries the same penalties. 

An organised crime group who carried out multiple burglaries, a vicious assault, and stole more than £215,000 worth of high-value cars have been jailed for a total of twenty seven and a half years. In 2023, police identified a series of residential burglaries which could be linked via a distinctive Audi A8, which was one of just fifteen in the country. The Audi was then seen at a petrol station with a wonky number plate which didn’t match its genuine details. Soon after, a second car suspected of being linked to the series was identified by a distinctive GB sticker on the back. However, the challenge remained to identify the people involved and a complex investigation began which used a variety of tactics to uncover the full extent of their crimes. Between June and August 2023, members of the group burgled multiple homes and were also linked to other offences including keyless car theft, where vehicles were taken close to the owners’ house or from the front drive.  Areas targeted included Epsom and Walton-On-Thames in Surrey and Croydon, Chessington, New Malden, Raynes Park and Surbiton in the Metropolitan area. They would scope out a target vehicle, and either commit a burglary to steal the keys or use illegal devices to gain keyless entry. They would then drive the vehicle away and park it elsewhere for a short time to see if any tracking devices had been activated. In the meantime, they would identify similar vehicles which were insured, source illegal fake number plates, and fit them to the stolen vehicles to try and evade detection.  On some occasions the stolen cars would ultimately end up at ‘chop shops’, where they were broken up into parts and sold for profit. During the burglaries at both residential properties and some shops, they caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and on one occasion, three of the men (Harry Mackay, Rico Persechino and Jason Connors) - assaulted the occupier of an address with weapons. After gathering a body of evidence, on 29 August 2023 police proactively apprehended Rico Persechino and Harry Mackay outside a shop in East Grinstead. Mackay tried to escape by running inside and heading to the staff door but he was swiftly caught. Officers later found a keyless car theft device that he’d tried to discard inside the shop. The police investigation used a variety of tactics including identifying cloned number plates, tracking vehicles through ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) and matching the suspects’ descriptions and clothing to CCTV footage. Often when committing a burglary at a shop, the group brought a large white carrier bag to carry the stolen goods and a comparison of CCTV footage enabled officers to tie offences to them due to the appearance of this same bag each time. One victim of the group's criminal activities said “The burglary was very distressing for both my partner and myself, and we felt a significant impact after the unwelcome intrusion from these criminals. I was very angry and upset and when I met with detectives the following day, I was close to tears and that’s not in my nature. The thought of strangers going through your personal possessions, and the damage they caused to gain access to my property was scary.  My partner lost family jewellery that had been passed down through generations. After the robbery I said I wanted to move, and I still might as this has had a long-term effect on me. I’m pleased to see the sentence this group were handed, and I was very impressed with the brilliant work of the police officers and detectives dealing with this case, they gave me faith throughout.” Lead investigator, Detective Inspector Daniel Voller, shared: “This was a sophisticated and organised operation and exposing the full extent of their crimes was only possible thanks to the hard work and diligence of everyone involved, from detectives to intelligence teams. These thieves had no regard for anyone but themselves and escalated their offending from stealing cars outside homes to breaking inside and committing a serious assault. We have worked relentlessly over many months to prepare a strong case against them and I’m pleased our efforts have resulted in getting them behind bars.” Following a trial at Guildford Crown Court on Monday 9 December, brothers Harry, Frankie and Stevey MacKay appeared along with Jason Connors and Rico Persechino for sentencing. Harry Mackay, 34 (DOB 27/04/1990), from Epsom pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Motor Vehicles, Conspiracy to Burgle and Conspiracy to Commit Robbery and was sentenced to 8 years. Frankie Mackay, 35 (DOB 24/05/1989), from Epsom, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Motor Vehicles and was sentenced to 39 months. Stevey Mackay, 32 (DOB 08/02/1992), from Kingston-Upon-Thames pleaded guilty to Steal Motor Vehicles and was sentenced to 39 months. Jason Connors, 29 (DOB 25/08/1995) from Croydon pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Robbery and was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months. Rico Persechino, 35 (DOB 01/04/1989) from Kingston-Upon-Thames pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Motor Vehicles, Conspiracy to Burgle and Conspiracy to Commit Robbery and was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months

Congratulations to everyone who received awards at our Long Service Award Ceremony recently, 21 colleagues, surrounded by their friends and family, collected awards for their incredible service with Surrey Police. A number of awards were presented throughout the ceremony to those who had completed 20 years' service, including conduct medals for officers and staff long service awards. The event also saw five people receive a 30 year-long service award. 

Akhtar joined the Force in December 2017 as a Police Support Volunteer. Akhtar told us he wanted to support the local community, to bring about a better understanding of the vital role that the Police play and ever since arriving in the UK in 1966 from Zanzibar, he has found helping and assisting others very rewarding.