In response to questioning from Ms Batool’s barrister Caroline Carberry KC, Mr Sharif suddenly said: “I want to say something.”

“Do you accept that you had been beating Sara severely over a number of weeks?”, Ms Carberry KC asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“On the night of 6 August, you badly beat Sara?”, Ms Carberry KC added.

“Yes,” he said.

As his admissions increased, some members of the jury were open-mouthed.

At that stage, Ms Batool, who had been sobbing loudly, left the court.

He also told jurors that he caused fractures to Sara and hit her with a cricket bat and metal pole while she was tied up with tape.

However, Mr Sharif later said he only intended to “discipline” Sara.

“I didn’t want to kill her,” Mr Sharif told the court.