A new review has found that council staff in Surrey, England, went to the wrong address when they tried to check on 10-year-old Sara Sharif, just one day before she was murdered by her father and stepmother. The review also found that social services failed to recognize the risk of abuse that Sara was facing and did not properly investigate unexplained bruising on her body.
Urfan Sharif, 43, and Beinash Batool, 30, were both sentenced to life in prison for Sara’s murder. Her body was discovered at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, in 2023, following a two-year period of horrific abuse. The review highlighted a failure to question why Sara had started wearing a hijab, which she used to cover her injuries. It was found that professionals were hesitant to ask about it for “fear of causing offence.”
In response to the review’s findings, Surrey County Council has said it is “deeply sorry.” The council stated that it has taken “robust action” to address the issues raised and will work to implement all of the review’s recommendations.
A System That Failed to Keep Her Safe
The child safeguarding practice review, which was published on Thursday, examined how different organizations worked together in the time leading up to Sara’s murder and what lessons could be learned from the tragedy. The review stated that the “seriousness and significance of [Sharif] as a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse was overlooked.” It concluded that “Sara’s father and stepmother proved to be a lethal combination” and that, with hindsight, they should never have been trusted with her care.
The review found that there were “clearly several points in Sara’s life, in particular during the last few months, where different actions could and should have been taken” by the authorities. “The system failed to keep her safe,” it added. The report also noted that neighbors were reluctant to report their concerns because they “feared being branded as being racist.”
Missed Opportunities and a Fatal Mistake
The abuse that Sara suffered was horrific. She was hooded, burned, and beaten during the campaign of abuse. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had dozens of injuries, including human bite marks, a burn from an iron, and scalding from hot water.
The review, which was commissioned by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership, found that bruising was first noticed on Sara in June 2022. In March 2023, staff at her primary school contacted Surrey Children’s Services after they saw three bruises on her face, one of which was the size of a “golf ball.” The school had also noticed that Sara had changed from being a bubbly child to being “quiet and coy,” often pulling her hijab down to cover her face.
However, the review found that Children’s Services did not make any checks with Surrey Police, who were aware of Sharif’s history of domestic abuse. When a social worker spoke to Sharif, he lied and said the marks on Sara’s face were from when she was born. No further action was taken.
Later, Sharif removed his daughter from school, claiming he would homeschool her. The review found that from this point on, Sara “effectively disappeared.” The school provided the council with Sara’s new address in Woking so that a home visit could be carried out, as required by the council’s homeschooling policy. However, the system was not updated with the new address.
As a result, when the home education team tried to visit on August 7, 2023, they went to her old address. They realized their mistake when they returned to the office but decided not to visit the correct address until September. Sara was killed the very next day. The review noted that at the time of the failed visit, Sara would have had “unbelievably severe physical injuries.”
Calls for Accountability and Change
The review’s authors, a former senior social worker and a former homicide detective, said the lack of communication between children’s services and the police was “surprising” and a missed “opportunity to identify” the abuse. The review also found that an inexperienced social worker had failed to include critical information about the family’s extensive history with social services in a report that was presented to a judge during a custody hearing.
In response to the review, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson called Sara’s death “an appalling tragedy” and said the review “rightly highlights the glaring failures and missed opportunities across all agencies.” Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza added, “Change is urgent – we are now more than two years on from Sara’s preventable murder and children are still dying.”
Surrey Police said that what happened to Sara was one of the most shocking and tragic cases they had ever investigated. The local MP for Woking, Will Forster, has called for the council’s children’s services to be placed into special measures immediately and for senior council officers to be held accountable.
In December 2024, Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were found guilty of Sara’s murder. Sharif was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison, while Batool received a minimum of 33 years. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, was also sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing or allowing her death. The review’s findings have highlighted the urgent need for systemic changes to protect vulnerable children from falling through the cracks.
