Sara Sharif inquest will not take place until 2027

An inquest into the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif will not take place until next year, a coroner has said.

Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, were jailed for life in December 2024 for murdering the young girl, whose body was discovered at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023.

Sara had been violently abused in a “campaign of torture” that lasted two years.

Bite marks, an iron burn and scalding from hot water were among dozens of injuries found on her body in a post-mortem examination.

Senior coroner for Surrey, Richard Travers, set a date of 5 April, 2027, at a pre-inquest review earlier.

At the hearing, Batool asked if she could give evidence at the inquest.

“I am aware this can’t overturn my conviction,” she said via video link from prison.

“I am not seeking to do that, but my voice was not heard in the criminal trial.”

Travers said Batool would only be allowed to give evidence if it is “relevant” to the inquiry.

“If you wanted to put a statement together, I wouldn’t stop you doing that,” he said.

Matthew Turner, representing Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, said the pair “would have the right to ask questions”.

Alison Mitchell, counsel to the inquest, said the scope of the inquest was still being discussed.

She said it may include things such as:

• What was known about the risk of violence to Sara from her family from birth until she was placed with her father and stepmother in 2019
• How children’s services managed that risk and the decisions around her placement with her father in 2019
• What happened to Sara in her final months, her cause of death and whether any fear of accusations of racism affected anyone’s response to her case
• Why adoption was considered and decided against, and what role the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service had in that decision
• What the plan was for monitoring Sara after 2019 and why that monitoring stopped
• The reports of injuries to Sara seen by her school and whether the school and children’s services could have done more
• The school’s concerns about the stepmother’s behaviour toward the children
• Applications for home schooling made by Urfan Sharif in 2022 and 2023 and the response to those requests

A review previously found that Surrey County Council tried to check on Sara the day before she was murdered, but visited the wrong house.

The local authority apologised and said it had taken “robust action” to address the review’s findings.

Services in Surrey failed to identify that Sara was at risk of abuse and did not question unexplained bruising, the review found.

This included a failure to properly investigate why she started wearing a hijab – which covered her bruises, for “fear of causing offence”.

There were “clearly several points in Sara’s life, in particular during the last few months, where different actions could and should have been taken” by the authorities, the review said.

“The system failed to keep her safe,” it added.

Sharif and Batool were found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey in December 2024.

Sharif was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years, while Batool received a minimum of 33 years.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.

The next pre-inquest review will take place on 1 May.