Judges involved in Sara Sharif family court proceedings named

The judges who oversaw family court proceedings involving Sara Sharif in the years before her death have been named following a Court of Appeal ruling.

Judges Alison Raeside, Peter Nathan and Sally Williams were all involved in proceedings related to the 10-year-old between 2013 and 2019.

Sara was placed in the home of her father, Urfan Sharif, and her stepmother, Beinash Batool, following the last of three sets of proceedings.

Judge Raeside, who remains an active judge, dealt with the majority of the hearings related to Sara.

Judges Nathan and Williams - who have both since retired - were involved to a lesser degree.

Several media organisations appealed against a restriction on naming the judges.

Sara was murdered by Sharif and Batool in Woking, Surrey, in 2023. They were jailed for life last year.

The first set of proceedings heard Surrey County Council had a "number of concerns in relation to the care that (Olga Sharif) and Mr Sharif provide Z and U (Sara's siblings) and are likely to provide to Sara".

Judge Raeside approved the children being placed under supervision orders, meaning they stayed in their parents' care.

That decision was supported by the council, the children's guardian and Sara's parents.

In November 2014, an emergency hearing was heard by Judge Nathan, after child Z was found with an arm injury consistent with an adult bite mark.

Olga Sharif, Sara's mother, later accepted a caution after being charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Sara and her two siblings were taken into police protection.

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

That was Judge Williams's only involvement in the case.

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

Despite those allegations, however, the council still concluded "the risk can be managed" if Sara was returned to her mother's care, with supervised contact with her father.

That decision was supported by the children's guardian, and Judge Raeside approved the plan in May 2015.

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

In a report for a final hearing in October 2019, a social worker told the court 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".

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

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The press was previously barred from reporting the names of the judges and other professionals involved in the case.

The High Court ruled they had "acted within the parameters that law and social work practice set for them".

However, the Court of Appeal ruled last week the media could name the judges in the interests of open justice.

It had heard the judges wanted to "convey their profound shock, horror and sadness about what happened to Sara Sharif".

Surrey County Council was involved with the Sharif family for several years before Sara's death.

Concerns about Sara's care were raised within a week of her birth in 2013, while her parents were known to social services as early as 2010.

Surrey County Council repeatedly raised "significant concerns" the child was likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents.

While there were the three sets of family court proceedings mentioned above, allegations that Urfan Sharif was physically abusing Sara and her siblings were never tested in court.

(c) Sky News 2025: Judges involved in Sara Sharif family court proceedings named