Coroner orders council to disclose thousands of documents in Sara Sharif inquest

A coroner has ordered a council to disclose thousands of documents relating to the inquest into the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif. Sara was found dead in August 2023 at her family home in Woking, Surrey, after suffering acts of violence described by a judge as the worst crime he had ever encountered.The schoolgirl sustained over 100 injuries when she was tied up by her father, Urfan Sharif, 43, and a plastic bag secured over her head with parcel tape. She was then battered with a cricket bat, metal pole and a rolling pin, and strangled until her neck broke, burnt with an iron and bitten.One day following Sara's murder, her father fled to his native Pakistan with his accomplice wife Beinash Batool, 32, before phoning 999 to confess to the killing, thinking he had got away with it. But he was captured and extradited to face trial at the Old Bailey, where he and Batool were jailed for life with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years, respectively, in December 2024, after the murderous pair were found guilty of Sara's murder.Now, Senior Coroner Richard Travers has ordered Surrey County Council to disclose 24,606 documents relating to Sara's siblings at a pre-inquest review into her death. Leading up to her murder, Sara lived with several siblings, as well as her father, stepmother and uncle.A coroner has ordered a council to disclose thousands of documents relating to the inquest into the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif (pictured) Sara was murdered by her father, Urfan Sharif (pictured) and sustained over 100 injuries when she was tied up and a plastic bag secured over her head with parcel tapeEarlier this year, it emerged Sara's five siblings - who now live in Pakistan - would remain with their grandfather in the city of Jhelum, where they have resided since October 2023. Their future whereabouts, and who would ultimately hold custody of them, were at the centre of a court battle in Pakistan between the UK council and the family. The children were made wards of court in England after their sister's death, with Surrey County Council since pushing for their return to the UK. On Thursday, Mr Travers said he wants 'all of the pages' pertaining to Sara's siblings to be disclosed to him.But Alethea Redfern, representing the authority, argued against the full disclosure of the documents and said many are 'irrelevant' to the inquest.Ms Redfern said there must be a review of the paperwork by the council, adding some of the documents relate to matters that have 'no connection' to the circumstances of Sara's death.She said disclosure of all the documents, which are in an electronic format, will go beyond what is 'necessary'.However, Mr Travers said he doesn't understand what the council's 'issue' is with him obtaining the pages. Beinash Batool, the stepmother of Sara Sharif, was jailed for life for her murder Sara Sharif pictured in the hijab she started wearing to cover the bruises inflicted by her fatherHe said: 'This is going to be an order of the court. It is not up to Surrey County Council to decide what's to be disclosed and what's not to be disclosed.'Mr Travers requested all pages be released to him by the afternoon of October 2. If they are not, he said he will require the attendance of the authority's chief executive at the coroner's court.The inquest into Sara's death was to begin in April 2027, however, Mr Travers said he will adjourn the proceedings to a later date, in October.The coroner said he is not prepared to 'rush' proceedings and added inquests are 'important hearings' that must be done 'properly'.During Thursday's proceedings, three individuals due to give evidence at Sara's inquest applied for anonymity to prevent their identities from being reported by the press.The coroner also heard submissions and said he will make a decision at an unknown later date.Concerns were raised regarding Sara's care within a week of her birth in 2013, with her parents known to social services as early as 2010. A senior coroner has ordered Surrey County Council to disclose 24,606 documents relating to Sara's siblings. Leading up to her murder, Sara lived with several siblings, as well as her father, stepmother and uncle In the run-up to her murder on August 8, 2023, a previous safeguarding report found neighbours heard bloodcurdling screams but failed to report it as they 'feared being branded as being racist, especially on social media'.An occupational therapist sent to the home two years before Sara was killed noted the schoolgirl, then aged eight, was the only person in the house wearing a hijab but failed to question it, 'although she has reflected that she may have been reticent to talk about it for fear of causing offence'.It was later revealed the head covering was hiding bruises inflicted on Sara by her father and stepmother.A review said it was 'concerning that race was a bar to reporting possible child abuse', noting 'white fragility – or a defensiveness' is 'triggered when white individuals encounter racial stress' causing them to focus on their 'own feelings of victimisation' rather than those being harmed.The Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership also found there were at least four missed opportunities to save 'a beautiful little girl with a lovely smile and a loud laugh,' concluding 'different actions could and should have been taken and the system failed to keep her safe.'England's Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, said Sara was 'killed by those who should have loved her, but let down by every service.'Even before his daughter's death, Urfan Sharif was known for violence after being accused of attacking two children and three women, including Sara's mother Olga Domin.But he was never charged with any offence.After arriving in the UK on a student visa, the taxi driver held one woman at knifepoint, choked another with a belt and imprisoned one girlfriend for five days while he sent her passport off for a marriage application in a bid to secure residency in the UK.Yet Sharif managed to dodge blame and a child protection plan was closed in 2011 'without any evidence that father had addressed his abusive behaviour'.Social services were called repeatedly after Sharif was accused of biting, hitting and slapping children but no further action was taken after he blamed Ms Domin.Sara was taken into foster care in 2014 at the age of two, but despite the local authority believing she should be adopted, only a 12-month supervision order was put in place 'without adequate safeguards'.Meanwhile, her father spent his time drinking and gambling, eventually leaving Ms Domin to fly to Jhelum where he secretly married his cousin in an Islamic ceremony before he returned to embark on a third marriage with Batool.In 2016 Sharif was ordered to go on a domestic violence perpetrator programme where he 'admitted to extensive and wide-ranging domestic abuse'.But he only attended eight of the 26 sessions and experts said there was 'not enough evidence' he had changed his behaviour.Despite the report making 'quite shocking reading', its significance 'became lost within the system' when a social worker failed to complete an analysis and it was not added to Sara's safeguarding report.A family court later decided to award Sharif custody in 2019 based on a flawed report by an inexperienced social worker which had critical 'gaps' in information about Sharif as they were under 'pressure to file the report on time'.Sara's Polish mother was made out to be 'the problem' and her 'voice became lost' because there was no interpreter to explain what was happening, leaving her 'marginalised' and 'cut off' from decisions about Sara's fate.Consequently, a report found 'red flags' regarding Sara's care were missed as there was an 'assumption that because the court had decided that Sara could live with him there was no need to be unduly concerned.'In December 2024, a jury found Sharif and Batool guilty of murdering Sara following a ten-week trial where they heard she was subjected to a 'campaign of abuse'. At the Central Criminal Court, both Sharif and Batool were sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years in prison, respectively.