Authorities failed to identify Sara Sharif was at risk for years before her broken and battered body was discovered at her family home.
Her father Urfan Sharif had repeated contact with Surrey Social Services and police before he was charged with murdering the 10-year-old last summer. Five months before, Sara’s school made a referral to social services but the case was closed within days.
On Wednesday, Sharif and Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool were found guilty of her murder and her uncle Faisal Malik was convicted of causing or allowing her death. Following the guilty verdicts, the case will raise questions raised about whether the tragedy could have been prevented.
After being taken into care Sara had initially been returned to Sharif in 2015 on the understanding that his then-wife Olga Sharif move out. He had claimed Mrs Sharif had bitten another child and “abused” Sara during their marriage. She then accused Sharif of domestic abuse and child abuse leading to Sara being sent back to live with her.
In the intervening years, Sharif had supervised contact with his daughter then won custody again after Sara accused her mother of abuse in 2019. Neither party was ever charged over their alleged abuse in the home and Sharif’s pattern of behaviour went unchanged, the court was told.
Sharif had been controlling towards two other Polish ex-girlfriends, who alleged he had stopped them from leaving and taken their passports, jurors heard.
He had been arrested by police following allegations by 18-year-old Angelika, 31-year-old Anna and Mrs Sharif, but no further action was taken in each case.
Under cross-examination, Sharif had no answer to why a second child he had a past connection with could have ended up with iron burns or bites, just like Sara.
It was suggested he was the “common denominator” and could have directed others to inflict the brutal injuries as part of his regime of punishment.
The court heard Sharif had controlled Batool too, having taken advantage of her vulnerability as a victim of honour-based abuse. Within two years of getting Sara back, Batool was confiding in her sister that Sharif “beat the crap” out of his daughter. She said she wanted to report what was going on – but neither Batool nor anyone else in her family acted, jurors heard.
A former neighbour recalled children’s screams reaching “fever pitch” when she lived above the Sharif family’s former flat in West Byfleet, Surrey, between 2018 and 2020.
Rebecca Spencer told jurors Batool would lose her temper and she would hear smacks coming from the flat as well as doors rattling as if in an attempt to open them.
She thought about reporting what she had heard to authorities but ultimately decided against it, jurors were told.
Chloe Redwin, who moved into the upstairs flat in November 2022, said she heard a smack and scream followed by “go to your room”.
When she commented on Sara’s hijab, Batool shut down the conversation saying the girl wanted to “follow her religion”, even though none of the other females in the family wore a Muslim head covering.
To many others, the truth of what Sara was suffering behind closed doors remained hidden beneath a veneer of respectability.
Sara was always clean and well turned out with Sharif working hard as a taxi driver and Batool keeping the family home immaculate. However, teachers saw a different side to Batool when she was caught swearing at children at the school gates.
More red flags were raised when Sara turned up at school with bruises on her face in June 2022 and again in March 2023, despite attempts to cover them in a hijab.
Although Sara never confided in teachers what was going on, a referral was made to social services after the second incident – only for that to be shut down within days. The next month, Sara was taken out of school and the violence against Sara escalated in the final weeks of her life.
Sharif admitted repeatedly beating her with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone, throttling her and even hitting her in the stomach as she lay dying.
Prosecutors said it must have been obvious to all the adults in the house what was going on when Sara was punished for vomiting and soiling herself.
Signs of restraint with packaging tape and the evidence of the iron burns suggested more than one person must have been directly involved. Sharif and Malik’s teeth impressions ruled them out as Sara’s biter – leaving Batool who had refused to give hers.
Chief Superintendent Mark Chapman, from Surrey Police, declined to be drawn on any safeguarding failures in Sara’s case.
He told the PA news agency: “We are obviously at a position where the court case, the criminal prosecution has taken place and there has been an outcome in respect of that prosecution.
“In terms of what safeguarding actions have taken place in Surrey, it would not be appropriate for Surrey Police to comment on the actions of other safeguarding professionals during the course of the months leading up to Sara’s death.
“What I can say, in the months to come there will be local safeguarding practice reviews in Surrey and an inquest into Sara’s death which will thoroughly examine the circumstances leading to her death.”
Surrey County Council has been contacted for comment.
