‘Veil of secrecy’ over Sara Sharif scandal after choose bans naming of colleague who gave woman again to her killer dad
A ‘veil of secrecy’ was placed over the Sara Sharif scandal yesterday after a court banned the naming of a judge who placed the little girl in the custody of her murderous father.
A High Court judge ordered that none of the professionals involved in the family court proceedings could be named, including social workers, experts and guardians.
They also included the family court judge who made the fateful decision to give Urfan Sharif custody before he beat the ten-year-old to death.
The extraordinary ban sparked a secrecy row yesterday as Keir Starmer said questions must be answered about the appalling case.
Sara’s 42-year-old father and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were convicted on Wednesday of murdering the schoolgirl who was failed by the authorities – with police, social services and teachers missing at least 15 opportunities to help save her.
Sara suffered an unimaginable ordeal at the hands of her father and stepmother, who bound her arms and legs and hooded her in a plastic bag while battering her with a cricket bat, metal pole and rolling pin. They strangled her until her neck broke, burnt her with an iron and bit her.
When police found her broken body dumped under the pink covers of her bunk bed there were more than 100 injuries and it was impossible to say which was fatal.
Yesterday Sir Keir said: ‘It’s very hard to see, to read about… it’s just shocking. So that’s where I start on this. Obviously, there’s going to be questions that need to be answered in relation to this case.’
A school photo of murdered schoolgirl Sara Sharif who was killed by her parents
Urfan Sharif, 42, was emotionless as he was found guilty of murdering his daughter
Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, wept as she was found guilty of murdering the girl
He added: ‘This is about violence. It’s about abuse. It’s about making sure there are protecting safeguards for children, particularly those being home-schooled. So that’s where I think the questions are.’
Following an application by the Mail and other media organisations, High Court judge Mr Justice Williams released family court documents revealing that both Sara and her siblings had endured years of torture at their home in Woking, Surrey. But he banned the Press from publishing the names of the professionals involved in the case.
The anonymity ruling effectively prevents full public scrutiny of those responsible for the key decisions which culminated in Sara’s death on August 8 last year.
Yesterday, former victims commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC said: ‘This has placed a veil of secrecy over this case. I think it’s appalling that we cannot know who was responsible for this obviously extremely damaging order which played a key role in the horrible death of this child.
‘This is the judiciary protecting the judiciary. How can the public be confident that the family courts can protect future children if the public are denied the knowledge of who is making such decisions… The judiciary needs to be held to account for the decisions they make. This is an awful case, people got it seriously wrong and the public need to know the truth.’ She added: ‘It is sinister.’
Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, has said more transparency and data sharing is needed between organisations involved in the care of children, adding: ‘There can be no doubt Sara was failed in the starkest terms by the safety net of services around her.’
Sharif had been accused of violence against three ex-partners and two children, including his own, who were burned, bitten and bruised in a catalogue of cruelty dating back 16 years.
Yet police failed to bring charges and social workers later advised that Sara should be placed in her father’s custody in 2019.
Sara was beaten to death by her abusive father in August last year 9
Sara Sharif had suffered more than 25 broken bones from being hit repeatedly
Sara suffered broken bones from being hit with a cricket bat, pictured above in evidence
A Surrey Police photo of a white pole shown in court as evidence during the murder trial
Court documents reveal how a family court judge was hoodwinked by Sharif and Batool into blaming Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, for the abuse. The judge praised Batool for taking on Sara and her siblings, saying ‘it is a big ask, it’s amazing to be frank’.
The judge recommended Ms Domin get help for ‘anger management’, adding: ‘It would be good if you could at least be courteous to her [Batool], be polite to her, be slightly grateful even to her.’
The judge ordered that Sara should live with Sharif as long as Batool supervised the girl’s fortnightly visits to Ms Domin.
The judge told the two women to shake hands, suggesting: ‘Maybe you could see if you could shake hands, say hello and see if things could go forward a bit differently.’
Social workers claimed Sara had ‘a really good relationship’ with Batool, which was ‘a point of safety’ for her.
Yesterday, Sharif’s ex-partner Angelika, who was also abused, said of the reporting ban: ‘This is shocking. Why don’t we know these people who failed Sara? I think this is starting to get sticky.
‘Why weren’t there restrictive actions to keep the children away from these monsters? It is very suspicious. I feel very angry about it because there were so many red flags, right from the start. Since she was born. They could have stopped this.’
Woking MP Will Forster said he was ‘concerned’ about the ban: ‘I have called, and will push for an open, swift and transparent inquest and safeguarding review.’
