Judges who oversaw Sara Sharif proceedings named after court ruling overturned

The last of three sets of proceedings saw Sara placed in the home of her father, Urfan Sharif, and her stepmother, Beinash Batool, who murdered her at the same address in Woking, Surrey, in 2023 and were jailed for life last year.

The press was previously barred from reporting the names of the judges and other professionals involved in the case, with the High Court ruling they "acted within the parameters that law and social work practice set for them".

However, following an application from journalists, the order was lifted, with the names now free to be published.

It can now be reported that Surrey County Council was involved with the Sharif family for several years before Sara’s death, including beginning care proceedings for her just a week after her birth.

The documents showed that the authority first had contact with Urfan Sharif and Sara’s mother Olga Sharif in 2010, more than two years before Sara was born, and had received "referrals indicative of neglect" relating to Sara’s two older siblings, known only as Z and U.

Judge Raeside, who remains an active judge, dealt with the majority of the proceedings related to Sara, with Judges Nathan and Williams, who have both since retired, involved to a lesser degree.

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The first set of proceedings was told that the council had "a number of concerns in relation to the care that (Olga Sharif) and Sharif provide Z and U and are likely to provide to Sara."

Judge Raeside approved the children being placed under supervision orders, meaning the children stayed in their parents’ care – a position supported by Surrey County Council, the children’s guardian and Sara’s parents.

In November 2014, after Z was found with an arm injury consistent with an adult bite mark, Sara and her two siblings were taken into police protection. Olga Sharif later accepted a caution after being charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Raeside then extended the same order for a week the following day, with Judge Williams making an interim care order for Sara and one of her siblings as proceedings continued in 2015, her only involvement in the case.

At the end of the same set of proceedings, a hearing before Judge Raeside was told that the authority was "extremely concerned" that Sara and U were "likely to suffer significant emotional and physical harm in their parents’ care".

Despite the allegations, the council still concluded that "the risk can be managed" if Sara was returned to her mother’s care with supervised contact with her father, with this position also supported by the children’s guardian. Judge Raeside approved the plan in May 2015.

Then in 2019, Sara was moved to the property where she was later murdered, following her accusations of physical abuse by her mother, which were never proved.

In a report for a final hearing in October 2019, a social worker told the court that they assessed that "Urfan and Beinash are able to meet Sara and (U’s) needs for safety, stability, emotional warmth and guidance" adding that Urfan Sharif "appears to have the children’s welfare at heart".

The move was also supported by the children’s guardian and Sara’s parents and was approved by Judge Raeside.

Appeal judges ruled earlier this month that the judges should be named, finding that Justice Williams was wrong to anonymise the judges.

But Sir Geoffrey Vos, sitting with Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Warby, added that while judges "are required to show resilience and fortitude", they were "not required to tolerate bullying or abusive behaviour".

He said: "It should be noted that the historic judges had, as in all cases of this type, the difficult task of assessing the risk of future harm which could only be done against the background of the evidence before them."