Council visited wrong house before Sara Sharif’s murder

Council staff tried to check up on 10-year-old Sara Sharif the day before she was murdered by her father and stepmother, but went to the wrong address, a review has found.

Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during a two-year period before her body was found at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in 2023.

Her father Urfan Sharif, 43, and her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were jailed for life for her murder.

Surrey County Council said it was “deeply sorry” for the findings in the review.

The authority added that it had taken “robust action” to address the findings and would work to implement every recommendation in full.

The child safeguarding practice review, published on Thursday, looked at how organisations worked together in the run-up to Sara’s murder and what lessons can be learned.

It said the “seriousness and significance of [Sharif] as a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse was overlooked”.

It added: “Sara’s father and stepmother proved to be a lethal combination, and with hindsight, it is clear that they should never have been trusted with the care of Sara.”

The review said 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.

Bruising was first noticed on Sara in June 2022, according to the report.

In March 2023, staff at St Mary’s Primary School in West Byfleet contacted Surrey Children’s Services after spotting three bruises – one the size of a “golf ball” – on her face.

She had been off school for two days, with the family stating she was ill.

The support request was deemed amber, meaning action should have been decided upon within 24 hours.

Surrey Children’s Services did not make any checks with Surrey Police, which knew of Sharif’s history of domestic abuse, the review said.

It also did not consult the school, which had noticed Sara change from being bubbly to “quiet and coy” – pulling her hijab down over her face.

When a social worker spoke to Sharif, he lied and said Sara had marks from being hooked up to machinery when she was born, the review said.

No further social work action was decided.

Sharif subsequently removed his daughter from school to be home-schooled.

The review found that Sara “effectively disappeared” from this point.

The school gave the council Sara’s new address in Woking so workers could do a home visit – as required by its homeschooling policy.

But the system was not updated, so when the home education team attempted to visit on 7 August 2023, they went to her old address.

They realised the mistake back at the office but decided not to visit again until September, the review said.

Sara was killed the following day.

The review found that around the time of the failed visit, Sara would have had “unbelievably severe physical injuries”.

It added: “It is important that Sara’s legacy is a much more coherent home-schooling system, which provides adequate safeguards for all children.”

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Sara’s death was “an appalling tragedy”.

She added the review “rightly highlights the glaring failures and missed opportunities across all agencies” which led to it.

“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,” she said.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said the review “rightly recognises our collective outrage – and that it must never happen again”.

She 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 on Thursday that what happened to Sara was one of the most shocking and tragic cases the force had ever investigated.

“No child should ever have to suffer what Sara did at the hands of those who should have shown her only love,” said Assistant Chief Constable Tanya Jones.

The force said it would work with its partners to implement the review’s findings.

The review’s authors, former senior social worker Jane Wonnacott and ex-homicide detective Dr Russell Wate, said the lack of inquiries by children’s services to police was “surprising”.

They added it was “an opportunity to identify” Sara’s abuse.

The council had plenty of files about the family’s involvement with police and social services, but “there was no time to explore this in depth”, the review found.

Instead of deciding more time was needed to analyse the information, there was an “overreliance” on Sharif’s account, it added.

The review said Sharif “groomed and manipulated” the professionals who could have helped Sara, alongside the 10-year-old herself who almost always appeared “loyal to her father”.

Surrey County Council chief executive Terence Herbert said children’s services in Surrey had gone from “inadequate” to “good” in recent years.

“We are absolutely determined to keep making improvements that can help keep children safe,” he said.

“The report does not find a single solution to address all the factors that affected Sara or hold any one organisation accountable.”

Surrey Children’s Services and the Family Court had been involved with Sara since before she was born.

She was also nearly taken into care twice, but each time the court decided against it.

When her case came before the court a third time, there was an argument about which of her birth parents should get custody.

But critical information about children’s services’ extensive involvement with Sara was not included in a report put before the judge by an inexperienced social worker, the review found.

Sharif and Batool were found guilty of Sara’s murder at the Old Bailey in December 2024.

He was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years, while Batool received a minimum of 33 years.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was also sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.

The review was commissioned by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership, which is made of police, and the local health and children’s services.