Court of Appeal to hear challenge on naming judges in Sara Sharif’s family court case

The Court of Appeal is scheduled to consider an application seeking to identify the judges who presided over Sara Sharif’s family court hearings prior to her death. Urfan Sharif, 43, the 10-year-old’s father, and Beinash Batool, 30, her stepmother, received life sentences for her murder earlier in the week. Subsequent to the convictions at the Old Bailey, information from earlier family court proceedings concerning Sara’s welfare before her demise may now be made public. Among these details was the fact that Surrey County Council (SCC) had repeatedly expressed “significant concerns” that the child was susceptible to physical and emotional abuse from her parents. Notwithstanding three separate sets of family court proceedings, these allegations were never formally adjudicated, and Sara consistently returned to her parents’ care before being placed with Sharif and Batool at their residence in Woking, Surrey, in 2019, where her murder subsequently occurred. Mr Justice Williams, who authorized the reporting of the historical proceedings, issued an order prohibiting the media from identifying the other judges involved. This ruling is now slated for challenge at the Court of Appeal, following a successful application for permission to appeal filed by journalists. Sir Geoffrey Vos, in approving the appeal, stated: “The appeal raises questions that are of considerable public importance and it is in the public interest that the Court of Appeal considers them.” He indicated that the two-day hearing is scheduled to commence on 14 January 2025. Records reveal that SCC first engaged with Sharif and Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, in 2010 – over two years prior to Sara’s birth – after receiving “referrals indicative of neglect” concerning her two older siblings, identified only as Z and U. This marked the beginning of several years of council engagement with the family, during which allegations of domestic abuse by both parents towards each other and their children were made. The authority initiated the initial set of care proceedings regarding Z and U in January 2013, with Sara becoming involved within a week of her birth. Additional allegations of abuse were lodged between 2013 and 2015. In November 2014, following the discovery of an arm injury on Z consistent with an adult bite mark, Sara and her two siblings were placed under police protection, and Ms Domin was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, subsequently accepting a caution. The council sought to have the children placed in emergency care, informing a family court of its “significant concerns” regarding their return to Sharif. During a hearing, a judge was informed that carers had “observed [Sara] to stand facing a wall” and that she was “very small and doesn’t eat a lot.” The judge characterized Sara’s behavior as “disturbing,” yet she was returned to her parents’ care under supervision. A court hearing in 2015 revealed that the authority was “extremely concerned” that Sara and U were “likely to suffer significant emotional and physical harm in their parents’ care.” Notwithstanding these concerns, Sara was transferred to her mother’s sole care under supervision in November 2015, while maintaining contact with her father, a situation that persisted until 2019. Subsequently, she relocated to live with Sharif and Batool, with reports indicating this move occurred after Sara made unproven accusations of physical abuse by her mother. A judge at Guildford Family Court sanctioned this change, leading to Sara’s relocation to the family home in Woking. It was at this residence that she endured years of abuse, including being hooded, burned, and beaten, prior to her death. Sharif received a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison for murder, whereas Batool was given a minimum of 33 years. Faisal Malik, 29, Sara’s uncle, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.