Council visited wrong house before Sara Sharif murder: report

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

Sara was hooded, burned and beaten over a period of two years before her body was found at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in 2023.

His father Urfan Sharif, 43, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were sentenced to life in prison for his murder.

Surrey County Council said it “deeply regretted” the review’s findings.

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

The review of child protection practices, published on Thursday, looked at how the organizations worked together in the lead-up to Sara’s murder and what lessons can be learnt.

He said that the “seriousness and importance of [Sharif] as a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse was overlooked.

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

The report states that there were “clearly several moments in Sara’s life, particularly over the past few months, when authorities could and should have taken different actions.”

“The system failed to keep her safe,” he added.

The bruises were 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 out of school for two days and the family claimed she was sick.

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

Surrey Children’s Services did not make any checks with Surrey Police, who were aware of Sharif’s history of domestic abuse, the review found.

Nor did she consult the school, which had noticed that Sara went from being cheerful to “quiet and shy” by pulling her hijab 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, according to the review.

No further social work action was decided.

Sharif later took his daughter out of school to be homeschooled.

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

The school provided the council with Sara’s new address in Woking so workers could make a home visit, as required by its home education policy.

But the system wasn’t updated, so when the homeschool team tried to visit her on August 7, 2023, they went to her old address.

They realized the mistake in the office, but decided not to visit us again until September, according to the review.

Sara was murdered the next day.

The review found that at the time of the botched visit, Sara would have had “incredibly serious physical injuries.”

She added: “It is important that Sara’s legacy is a much more coherent home education system, providing adequate safeguards for all children.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Sara’s death was “a shocking tragedy”.

He added that the review “rightly highlights the glaring failures and missed opportunities across agencies” that led to it.

“We will take every step necessary to help ensure that no child is left invisible to the services that exist to keep them safe,” he said.

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

And he added: “Change is urgent: more than two years have passed since Sara’s preventable murder and children continue to die.”

Surrey Police said on Thursday what happened to Sara was one of the most shocking and tragic cases the force has ever investigated.

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

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

The review’s authors, former social worker Jane Wonnacott and former homicide detective Dr Russell Wate, said the lack of investigations from children’s services into police was “surprising”.

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

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

Instead of deciding that more time was needed to analyze the information, there was “overreliance” on Sharif’s account, he added.

The review said Sharif “groomed and manipulated” professionals who could have helped Sara, along with the 10-year-old herself who almost always seemed “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 continue making improvements that can help keep children safe,” he said.

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

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

She was also almost hospitalized twice, but each time the court decided against it.

When her case came before the court for the third time, there was an argument over which of her biological parents should get custody.

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

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 in prison for causing or allowing her death.

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