Surrey council staff refused anonymity for Sara Sharif inquest

A coroner has rejected a request for anonymity made on behalf of three council workers who are expected to give evidence at the inquest into the death of Sara Sharif.

The 10-year-old was found dead in a bunk bed at her family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023.

Her father and stepmother – Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool – were jailed for life in December 2024 after being found guilty of her murder.

At a pre-inquest review hearing last week, Surrey County Council applied to prevent the identities of the workers being reported by the press during the full hearing, but that application was resisted by media organisations, including the BBC.

Concerns were raised about Sara’s care within a week of her birth in 2013, and her parents were known to social services as early as 2010, it has been reported.

Surrey County Council workers tried to visit the family home the day before she was murdered but visited the wrong address, a review also found.

It also found that services in Surrey failed to identify that Sara was at risk of abuse and did not question unexplained bruising.

This included a failure to properly investigate why she started wearing a hijab – that covered the bruising – for “fear of causing offence”.