At a glance...
• Review finds multiple agencies missed repeated chances to protect 10-year-old Sara Sharif from years of horrific abuse by her father and stepmother
• Authorities underestimated her father’s history of domestic violence and were manipulated by him, failing to act despite clear warning signs
• Council and ministers admit “glaring failures” and promise reforms after report concludes Sara “was not protected from abuse and torture”
A 10-year-old girl who endured horrific abuse before she was murdered by her “sadistic” father and step mother was “failed” multiple times by the systems designed to protect her, a damning review has found.
Authorities missed numerous opportunities to save Sara Sharif’s life and overlooked and underestimated her father’s history of domestic abuse, according to the report released on Thursday.
A "great deal of information" was available to professionals but they appeared to have been "groomed and manipulated" by Sara’s killers, Urfan Sharif and his partner Beinash Batool.
The schoolgirl was found dead in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023. She had suffered what was described as "horrific abuse" at the hands of Sharif and her stepmother, Batool.
Sharif and Batool were jailed for life with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively in December last year, after being found guilty of her murder.
Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and jailed for 16 years.
Their trial heard how Sharif had repeated contact with Surrey social services before he was charged with murdering his daughter.
The review into the handling of Sara's care by various services including police, health, social care and education, said she had been "a victim of domestic abuse from birth onwards".
While she was described as a "beautiful little girl, full of personality with a lovely smile", her "reality was day to day abuse which became normalised", persuaded by her father and stepmother "that she deserved the treatment being meted out to her", the report said.
The local child safeguarding practice review described the little girl's family life as "complicated" and stated that those convicted over her death were "ultimately responsible".
But the 62-page report said there were "many points at which different action could, and we suggest, should, have been taken" and that Sara "was not protected from abuse and torture".
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson 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.”
Surrey County Council said it was "deeply sorry" and insisted it has taken "robust action” to address failings and will continue to work to implement all the review's recommendations.
The seriousness and significance of Urfan Sharif's domestic abuse was "overlooked, not acted on and underestimated by almost all professionals" involved with Sara and her family, the report said
Sara was placed on a child protection plan before she was even born, and family court hearings followed, with the council beginning proceedings to have her taken into care soon after her birth.
In her short life, she moved from the care of both parents, to living with her mother, Olga, and having only supervised contact with her father after his domestic abuse.
But, in 2019, after Sharif alleged Sara was being abused in her mother's care, she was placed with her father and stepmother. The pair were described in the review as a "lethal combination" who "should never have been trusted" to look after her.
Investigators noted that text messages between Batool and her sisters, discovered by police, showed Sara had begun being assaulted by her father "soon after she moved in with him".
Aged eight, Sara had begun to wear the hijab, which the review said hid bruising and injuries to her face and head in the later period of her life.
It said while her school had shown "appropriate curiosity", there was no evidence in the children's services or health records that race, culture, religion or heritage were "properly considered", and expert advice obtained from the local Muslim community suggested it would have been "highly unusual" for such a young child to decide to wear it when other family members did not.
The report said there were multiple occasions throughout Sara's life when "more robust safeguarding processes were needed to properly investigate the possibility that she was experiencing significant harm".
These included a two-day school absence in March 2023, five months before her death after which she returned "quiet and coy" and with bruising on her face.
While Sara's school made a referral to social services, the case was closed within days, without police being contacted.
The following month, Sharif emailed the school to say he intended to educate his daughter at home - a move the review concludes was undoubtedly made "to keep Sara hidden from view in the last weeks of her life".
A series of missed opportunities followed, with delays in correspondence and an old home address on the digital system resulting in a visit by a council worker to the wrong location - just two days before Sara died.
Had Surrey Council's policy on home education of offering a home visit within 10 days of notification been followed, and the child been seen, "it is likely that the abuse of Sara would have come to light, or (her) father's refusal to co-operate would have undoubtably raised a safeguarding alert", the review said.
Surrey children's services had failed to "identify that Sara was at risk of being abused by her father, stepmother and uncle"; "expected robust safeguarding processes were not followed"; and the child's "'voice' expressed through her change in demeanour was not heard"; the review said.
Sara had not spoken of the abuse she was experiencing, it added, instead appearing "cheerful and loyal to her father, whilst he continually groomed and manipulated her, and the professionals who could have helped her".
The review concluded that, despite information available across the system, "opportunities were lost to join up all the dots and recognise the dangers faced by Sara once she moved in with her father and stepmother".
Among 15 recommendations, the review authors called for improvements in how referrals to children's services are dealt with, including better resourcing and capacity, qualifications and experience of staff; and updated statutory guidance to require that where an application is made to home school a child previously known to children's social care, a formal meeting with parents and professionals should take place.
Commenting on the local review, the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel said Sara's memory can be honoured "by understanding what happened to her and by redoubling our efforts to protect children from those who set out to harm them".
Surrey County Council apologised for findings.
Council chief executive Terence Herbert 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.”
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.”
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