A top judge who jailed the killers of Sara Sharif has raised the alarm about unsupervised home schooling, after it was used to hide signs that the ten-year-old was being abused.
Sara died at the hands of her own father, Urfan Sharif, and stepmother Beinash Batool, who subjected her to years of barbaric torture and beatings at the family home in Woking, Surrey.
When she had bruising, Batool used make-up to conceal the marks and eventually the little girl was forced to wear a hijab to cover her damaged skin.
Sharif withdrew his daughter twice from school after teachers spotted signs of abuse and raised concerns, and the second occasion was just a few months before she was murdered.
During his sentencing remarks at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Mr Justice Cavanagh acknowledged that the case had raised “safeguarding concerns”, including that Sharif was given custody of his daughter despite being “on the radar of various authorities as an alleged perpetrator of domestic abuse”.
He said his role is not to comment on whether anything could have been done to save Sara, telling the court: “The primary responsibility for the death of Sara rests squarely with the three of you who are before me for sentencing.”
But he added: “This case brings into sharp relief the dangers of unsupervised homeschooling of vulnerable children.
“When they felt they needed to, you, Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool, were able to hide the abuse that Sara was suffering by the simple expedient of announcing that she was to be homeschooled.
“Of course, there are many cases in which parents take their children out of school for periods of homeschooling for good reasons and with the best of intentions, but this case starkly illustrates the dangers.
“It is a matter of concern that parents who are abusing or who have malign intent towards their children appear to be able to homeschool more or less at will and without supervision.”
Sharif, 43, and Batool, 30, were convicted by a jury last week of murdering Sara. Today, they were both jailed for life, with Sharif being handed a 40-year minimum sentence and Batool being ordered to serve at least 33 years in prison.
Responding to the case, the government today vowed to introduce compulsory “Children Not in School” registers in every local authority in England. The reforms will mean councils know which children are not in school in their area and can better ensure they are receiving a suitable education, the government said.
Parents will also no longer have the automatic right to home educate their child if they are subject to a social services child protection investigation or under a child protection plan. Instead councils will have the power to intervene and require school attendance.
A Department for Education spokesman said the measures “will ensure that the most vulnerable children cannot be withdrawn from school until it is confirmed that this would be in their best interests, and that the education to be provided outside of school is suitable”.
Concerns existed for Sara’s safety from the moment she was born in 2013, due to allegations of abuse by Sharif towards other children and women in his life. She was taken into temporary foster care, but returned to Sharif in 2019 when the violence began.
Staff and a parent at Sara’s primary school raised concerns about her welfare.
“Twice, in June 2022 and again in April 2023, you took a sudden decision to take Sara out of school and to homeschool her”, the judge said to Sharif.
“On each occasion, this was because the visible signs of the beatings that you had carried out had become so obvious that you were worried that the authorities would find out how you were treating her.
“You, Beinash Batool, did not stand in Urfan Sharif’s way, and you did nothing significant to protect Sara.”
He said directly to Batool: “You would sometimes put make-up on Sara’s bruises when she went to school to conceal them from her teachers.
“You went along with the decision to homeschool Sara.”
The criminal case has revealed in graphic detail the abuse Sara was suffering in the family home, including being tied up, hooded, burned with an iron, beaten with a cricket bat, and hot water being poured on her skin.
Sharif and Batool were both convicted at trial, having denied murder. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing or allowing her death.
Maria Neophytou, acting chief executive of the NSPCC children’s charity, said a Child Safeguarding Practice Review “must undertake an exhaustive search for answers so we can understand how this horrific abuse was able to happen, and for so long.
“The recommendations must then be quickly implemented, to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in Surrey, and across the UK.
“At the same time the Government must recognise something more fundamental has to change. Sara has now joined a lengthening list from recent years, which also includes Arthur Labinjo Hughes, Star Hobson and Alfie Phillips, where horrific abuse from a parent or carer has directly led to the death of a young child.
“To significantly reduce the likelihood of more of these terrible cases emerging, there needs to be substantial, nationwide, reform and investment in the services which we rely on to keep our children safe.”
