Sara Sharif case: Judges who allowed father’s custody to be identified

The Court of Appeal has overturned a prior ruling that anonymised three judges involved in family court proceedings related to Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl murdered by her father and stepmother in Woking in 2023.In a decision announced on Friday, Sir Geoffrey Vos declared that Mr. Justice Williams had no jurisdiction to grant anonymity to the judges in December 2024.The judges’ names will now be made public in seven days, following a successful appeal by media organizations, including the BBC.The original ruling had cited concerns of harm from a “virtual lynch mob” due to the “often inflammatory nature of public and media commentary”.However, transparency advocates argued that revealing the judges’ identities was in the public interest.Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, were sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2023 for her murder.Details from previous family court cases revealed that Surrey County Council had raised repeated concerns about the children’s safety under Sharif’s care due to allegations of physical and domestic abuse.Sara lived with her father in Woking from 2019, where she endured years of abuse before her death.Court documents show that significant concerns were flagged over a decade earlier, including neglect allegations involving her siblings before her birth.The appeal court’s decision has reignited discussions on judicial accountability in family court cases.While two of the judges involved in Sara’s case are now retired, the ruling reinforces the importance of transparency in cases with severe implications.Last year, in December, Urfan Sharif, and Beinash Batool, the father and stepmother of 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl Sara Sharif, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder following a prolonged campaign of abuse.The jury at London’s Old Bailey deliberated for nearly 10 hours before delivering the verdict.The court has sentenced Sharif and Batool to life imprisonment for the tragic death of the young girlSara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, who also lived in the family home, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.The verdicts came after a trial in which the prosecution described the horrific abuse the young girl endured before her death.Sara died on August 8, 2023, at the family home in Surrey. She had suffered a catalog of 70 injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, 25 fractures, scalding wounds, human bite marks, and an ulcerated burn to her buttocks.Experts described the injuries as consistent with prolonged abuse and violence as the abuse reportedly included the girl being hooded, restrained, and beaten throughout her short life.Her tragic death prompted an outpouring of grief, particularly from her mother, Olga Sharif, who issued a statement through Surrey Police following the verdict.”My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon,” Olga Sharif said. “Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Her smile could brighten up the darkest room. She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you, princess.”On December 12, the father, stepmother, and uncle of 10-year-old Sara Sharif were found guilty of her murder, a case that shocked the UK and triggered an international manhunt.After a week of jury deliberations at London’s Old Bailey, the judge announced that sentencing for the “extremely stressful and traumatic” case will take place on Tuesday.Sara was found dead in her bed in Woking, southwest of London, on August 10, 2023. The three convicted family members had fled to Pakistan the day before her body was discovered.Her father, Urfan Sharif, left behind a handwritten note by her body stating that he had not meant to kill her, but “lost it.”The three relatives were arrested upon their return to the UK a month later.During the highly charged trial last month, Sharif, a taxi driver, admitted to killing his daughter but claimed he had not intended to harm her. Initially, he had denied all charges and blamed his wife, Beinash Batool, for Sara’s death.Sharif also admitted to causing multiple fractures in the weeks leading up to Sara’s death, including beating her with a cricket bat while she was bound with packaging tape, throttling her with his bare hands, and breaking the hyoid bone in her neck.