Judges Who Oversaw Sara Sharif's Case Finally Named After Appeal

Judges Who Oversaw Sara Sharifs Case Finally Named After Appeal

Judges Who Oversaw Sara Sharif's Case Finally Named After Appeal

In a major development in the case of Sara Sharif, who was tragically murdered by her father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool in 2023, the judges who oversaw key family court hearings involving Sara before her death can now be publicly named. The ruling comes after a successful legal appeal, which allows for increased transparency in the justice process.

Sara’s story has been heartbreaking. From the moment she was born, Sara faced a life marked by cruelty and neglect. The family court was involved in Sara's life from just six days after her birth, when Surrey County Council sought an interim care order for her and her siblings. The case went on for years, with repeated concerns about abuse and neglect, but despite these red flags, the decisions made by the courts failed to protect Sara, ultimately leading to her horrific murder.

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Judge Alison Raeside, who presided over many hearings involving Sara, played a central role in the court’s decisions. She made several critical rulings that allowed Sara to stay with her father, despite numerous allegations of abuse. In January 2013, when Sara was just six days old, Raeside was the judge who first heard concerns about Sara and her siblings being inadequately supervised, and about their father’s history of domestic abuse. Despite these serious concerns, Raeside decided against removing the children from their parents' care, opting instead for a supervision order. This decision marked the beginning of a series of court hearings where Sara’s safety was repeatedly compromised.

In 2019, the family was back before Judge Raeside, this time for a decision about whether Sara and her sibling should live with their father and stepmother. A social worker had raised concerns about the children’s welfare, but Raeside ultimately decided to grant Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool custody, despite the troubling history of abuse. Just a few years later, in August 2023, Sara was found dead, the victim of unimaginable cruelty and violence at the hands of her father and stepmother.

The media had initially been prevented from naming the judges involved in the case, but a successful appeal from media organizations, including the BBC, has now made it possible for the public to know the names of the judges. Judge Raeside, along with Judge Peter Nathan and Judge Sally Williams, who also had roles in the family court proceedings, are now publicly identified. The appeal court decision emphasized that judges, as key figures in the justice system, must be open to public scrutiny for their decisions, especially when those decisions have such tragic consequences.

While the appeal court recognized the serious concerns about the safety of the judges due to the high-profile nature of the case, it ruled that the judges had acted within the law and social work guidelines at the time. However, the tragic outcome of Sara’s case raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the child protection system and the decisions made by those in power.

This development marks a turning point in the case, providing much-needed transparency and setting a precedent for future family court cases. While it is too late for Sara, the hope is that these lessons will lead to better protection for vulnerable children in the future.

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