The Court of Appeal is set to hear a bid to name judges involved in Sara Sharif’s family court proceedings before she was killed. Sara’s father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool were recently sentenced to life in prison for her murder. Following the convictions, it is possible that details from previous family court proceedings relating to Sara’s care could be released. These proceedings revealed that the Surrey County Council raised concerns that the girl was likely to suffer abuse from her parents, which were never tested in court.
Sara had been repeatedly placed under the care of her parents despite these concerns. Mr Justice Williams had allowed the reporting of these proceedings but banned media from naming the other judges involved. This decision is now being challenged, with journalists seeking permission to appeal. The case has been granted a two-day hearing, due to take place in January 2025.
The documents reveal that the Surrey County Council first had contact with Sara’s parents in 2010 due to referrals indicative of neglect relating to her two older siblings. The family’s involvement with the council escalated over the years due to allegations of domestic abuse by both parents towards each other and the children. The council began the first set of care proceedings in 2013, just a week after Sara’s birth. Between 2013 and 2015, several other allegations of abuse were made.
Despite concerns, Sara was moved to her mother’s sole care under supervision in November 2015 and still had contact with her father until 2019. It was then that Sara moved in with Sharif and Batool after making accusations of physical abuse by her mother, which were never proved. Her move was approved by a judge at Guildford Family Court. It was later revealed that she had been abused by her family for years before her death at their home in Woking.
Sharif was sentenced to serve a minimum of 40 years in prison for murder, while Batool was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years and Faisal Malik, Sara’s uncle, received a 16-year prison sentence for causing or allowing her death. The case highlights the need for families’ history and circumstances to be thoroughly examined before a final decision on parental care is made. The public’s interest in these proceedings and the responsibility of judges will also be examined during the Court of Appeal case
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