Ten-year-old Sara Sharif, who was murdered by her father and stepmother, “was failed by the safeguarding system” throughout her short life, a review which identified a series of missed opportunities said. Surrey County Council was forced to apologise after findings that the young girl should never have been put in the “lethal combination” of her father and stepmother, according to the latest safeguarding review into Sara’s death.
Terence Herbert, council chief executive, said: “We are deeply sorry for the findings in the report related to us as a local authority. We have already taken robust action to address those relating to Surrey County Council, and that work will continue with every recommendation implemented in full. We will also work with partners across the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership to ensure a joint action plan is implemented as quickly as possible.
“In recent years, children’s services in Surrey have gone from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’, and we are absolutely determined to keep making improvements that can help keep children safe.”
The primary school girl was murdered in August 2023, after undergoing what has been described as “torture” during a violent series of abuse that left the 10-year-old covered in fractures, bruises and burns.
Sara’s body was later found in her bunk bed at the family home after her father, Urfan Sharif, made a call from Pakistan admitting to having “beaten” and “killed” his young daughter.
When officers began investigating the home, they found that a cricket bat, a metal pole and a burning hot iron had all been used to inflict pain on the schoolgirl.
Sara was on the radar of social services in Surrey. In the years prior to her death, she had been twice taken away from her biological family to be put into foster care.
She had also been stuck in the middle of a custody battle between her mother and father, with both accusing each other of abuse.
After going on the run in Pakistan Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and stepmother Beinash Batool, were arrested by authorities and jailed for life, serving minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively after being found guilty of muder in court.
Her uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and jailed for 16 years.
Council leader Tim Oliver said the situation was “horrific and incredibly sad”.
He added: “I am certain that everyone involved with this family will have reflected on what more could have been done to protect Sara, and my thoughts and condolences are with anyone affected.
“The independent and detailed review makes several recommendations both for national government and local partners, and it is now essential that every single person in every organisation involved in child safeguarding reads this report and understands the lessons learnt.
“I am deeply sorry for the findings in the report that relate to us as a local authority. We will now act on those findings and continue to review and strengthen our culture, systems and processes designed to support good practice in working with children and families, as per the recommendations.”
According to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson the new safeguarding report “highlights the glaring failures and missed opportunities”.
She said: “Sara Sharif’s death was an appalling tragedy that could – and should – have been avoided.
“The review rightly highlights the glaring failures and missed opportunities across all agencies which led to Sara’s death – we will take every step to help make sure that no child is left invisible to the services that are there to keep them safe.”
While local Woking MP Will Forster said Sara Sharif had been failed by the state “at every stage”.
He added: “All the warning signs were there, yet they were not acted upon. The authorities were fully aware that Sara was at risk. She was placed on a child protection plan before being born and was a victim of domestic abuse from that day onwards.
“It is now painfully clear that Sara’s murderers exploited loopholes in the home education system to conceal their abuse. Legislation is urgently needed to prevent this from happening again.”
Dame Rachel de Souza, England’s children’s commissioner said there was a “catalogue of missed opportunities, poor communication and ill-informed assumptions” and that a case like Sara’s “must never happen again”.
She added: “Sara was available to the professionals tasked with her protection, but every part of the system lacked the curiosity to piece it together or ask tough questions, relying on the easy lies of her father and stepmother, at whose hands she died.”
“Change is urgent – we are now more than two years on from Sara’s preventable murder and children are still dying.”