A devastating report has concluded that ten-year-old Sara Sharif was repeatedly failed by safeguarding authorities, with social workers visiting her old address just two days before she was killed.
A Litany of Missed Opportunities
The review found that social workers, police, teachers and health professionals were systematically "groomed and manipulated" by Sara's brutal father, Urfan Sharif. It details a catalogue of missed chances to rescue the child from a horrific childhood peppered with beatings and abuse over at least two years.
Sara was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023. A post-mortem examination revealed the extent of her suffering: she had sustained at least 71 external injuries, 10 spinal fractures, burns from an iron on her buttocks and six human bite marks on her body. The terrified child was subjected to plastic bags bound with packaging tape used as a hood and was forced to wear a nappy when tied up.
The System's Catastrophic Failures
The failures continued right until the end of Sara's life. In March 2023, she returned to school after a two-day absence with bruising to her cheek, eye and chin. While her school did make a referral to social services, the case was closed within days and police were never contacted.
The following month, Sharif emailed teachers to say he would be educating Sara at home. The review concludes this was a deliberate move "to keep Sara hidden from view in the last weeks of her life".
In a critical error, on August 7, 2023, a member of Surrey Council's elective home education team went to an old address for the family. The mistake was identified, but a new visit was scheduled for the following month. Tragically, Sara died on August 9.
The report states that had the council's policy on home education been properly followed, "it is likely that the abuse of Sara would have come to light".
A Pattern of Overlooked Violence
The review found that Surrey children's services failed to identify Sara was at risk and that expected safeguarding processes were not followed. It also highlighted that the child's own voice, "expressed through her change in demeanour, was not heard".
Disturbingly, the "seriousness and significance" of Sharif as a "serial perpetrator of domestic abuse was overlooked, not acted on and underestimated by almost all professionals" on multiple occasions, even before Sara's birth. He deflected allegations by blaming others, a tactic enabled by a "lack of joined-up thinking about the whole family" across all agencies.
Urfan Sharif, 42, and his partner Beinash Batool, 30, who fled to Pakistan after Sara's death, were found guilty of her murder last year at the Old Bailey. Sharif's brother, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.
The report describes Sara as a "beautiful little girl, full of personality with a lovely smile", whose reality was "day to day abuse which became normalised". It concludes that those convicted over her death were "ultimately responsible", but that numerous opportunities to save her were tragically missed.
