Dame Rachel de Souza has called for a raft of safeguarding improvements to ensure similar avoidable deaths “never again” take place.
These include improved data sharing between services, the introduction of a unique identifier for children that links across services, and for schools to be made the fourth statutory safeguarding partners alongside police, social care and health services.
-
Rise in home schooling prompts concerns
-
Child deaths link to pressures of pandemic and resources shortage
A local safeguarding review will examine what lessons can be learned over the 10-year-old’s death. Sara was found with more than 70 external injuries and 25 fractures at her family home in Byfleet, Surrey, on 10 August 2023.
The family reportedly attracted the attention of social services, police and schools repeatedly, spanning several years.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of Sara’s murder following a 10-week Old Bailey trial.
Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Sara started to wear a hijab to school from January 2023, which hid much of her face.
The court was told that in March 2023, bruising was noticed when the hijab moved away from her face. A month later, Urfan emailed the school to say Sara would be home schooled with immediate effect.
The school had contacted Surrey County Council's Children’s Single Point of Access for advice, and it was agreed that a social services referral was needed, the trial was told.
The trial heard that Sara “suffered dreadfully” and was burned with an iron, bitten and had a plastic bag taped over head in the months leading up to her death.
De Souza said in a statement following the verdicts: “Sara Sharif was killed by the people in her life that should have loved her the most – and they must now face the consequences of that terrible act.
"Her death is a heartbreaking reminder of the profound weaknesses in our child protection system that, as a country, we have failed time and time again to correct. We have been here before – and each time we have said ‘never again’.
"What haunts me the most about Sara’s death is that her father used the words ‘I legally punished my child’, believing this to be a defence to murder. It is unthinkable that any parent or carer could hide behind our legal system to justify such cruelty – and yet, children living in England today have less protection from assault than adults.
"The law needs to change. The outdated defence in assault law that permits ‘reasonable chastisement’ of children must be removed as a matter of urgency, through the Children’s Wellbeing Bill being introduced to parliament imminently.
"Sara’s death must also bring about an immediate shift in how we protect children like her. Schools, so often the place where vulnerable children are identified and protected, must be made the fourth statutory safeguarding partners with the police, social care and health services. We need proper oversight of children being educated at home, through the long-promised register of children not in school and by requiring councils to sign off on home educating requests for some of the most vulnerable children.
“This must go hand in hand with better data sharing by services and the introduction of a unique ID for every child. There can be no doubt that Sara was failed in the starkest terms by the safety net of services around her. Even before she was born, she was known to social care – and yet she fell off their radar so entirely that by the time she died, she was invisible to them all.
“We can have no more reviews, no more strategies, no more debate. When we say ‘never again’, we have to mean it – let that be Sara’s legacy.”
Rachael Wardell, executive director for children, families and lifelong learning at Surrey County Council, said: “Sara’s death is incredibly distressing and we share in the profound horror at the terrible details that have emerged during the trial. We cannot begin to comprehend the suffering that poor Sara endured at the hands of members of her family who should have loved, protected, and cared for her.
“The focus of the trial has been on the evidence needed to secure the convictions of those responsible for Sara’s death. This means that until the independent safeguarding review concludes, a complete picture cannot be understood or commented upon.
“What is clear from the evidence we’ve heard in court is that the perpetrators went to extreme lengths to conceal the truth from everyone.
“We are resolute in our commitment to protecting children, and we are determined to play a full and active part in the forthcoming review alongside partner agencies, to thoroughly understand the wider circumstances surrounding Sara’s tragic death.”
Mr Justice Kavanagh adjourned sentencing of Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool until Tuesday, 17 December.
