The sacrifice of Sara Sharif

Judge Alison Raeside returned Sara to her sadistic father

Remember when we were told that the judiciary must have more women in it, as they would be more familiar with the concerns of women and children? That was the general argument as I recall. Well that didn’t work out for Sara Sharif who was returned to her father by Judge Alison Raeside. The father, Urfan Sharif went on to murder his daughter Sara Sharif.

I discussed that case here..

I said, on the returning of Sara to her sadistic father by a family court judge,

“The worst decision was yet to come. The father and mother separated and now Urfan Sharif was with Beinash Batool.

As the Telegraph reports: ‘The Family Court gave Sara Sharif’s killer father shared custody of his daughter despite knowing he had been accused of abusing her siblings for years. In October 2019, almost four years before Sara was killed, the couple had been awarded shared custody of her by the Family Court.

‘Sara’s mother, who has learning difficulties, had given her consent for the children to be looked after by Batool and Sharif. Allegations of abuse and neglect had been made against both Ms Domin and Sharif at the time. This decision amounted to the death sentence of Sara Sharif.’

Or as the Times reports, after a history of allegations of abuse being made, ‘Sharif applies to Guildford family court for custody of Sara. Sara had made a claim of abuse by Domin and Surrey council supported returning her to her father. Sharif is given custody of Sara.’ And that was that. I hope that the family judge has a very happy Christmas indeed.”

That particular family judge has been named today.. (There was an anonymity order put in place but that was lifted by the Court of Appeal.)

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

“Judge Alison Raeside, 66, oversaw the bulk of the ten-year-old’s care proceedings, including making her the subject of a care prevention order at six days old.

In October 2019, Raeside gave Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and his wife, Beinash Batool, custody at a private hearing at Guildford family court and he was left free to subject Sara to a torrent of abuse, including burning her with an iron and making her stay up all night doing sit-ups.

A report prepared for that hearing detailed Sharif’s four arrests for suspected violence against three Polish women, including Sara’s mother. The report detailed that Sharif had been accused of holding women against their will, threatening to kill them with a knife and punching Sara’s four-month old sibling.

Earlier assessments prepared for Raeside described how Sara’s siblings had “unexplained bruising, bites and burns”. The report stated that Sharif claimed he “has addressed his anger issues. He considers that any repetition of previous types of his angry behaviour will not happen again”.

So Judge Alison Raeside gave Urfan Sharif custody of his child Sara despite the following:

1. Urfan Sharif had 4 arrests for suspected violence against 3 women, including Sara’s mother.

2. He has been accused of holding women against their will and threatening to kill them with a knife.

3. An accusation that Urfan Sharif punched, punched that is, a four month old baby, Sara’s sibling. What kind of person punches a 4 month old baby?

4. The judge also had a report in front of her that described how Sara’s siblings had “unexplained bruising, bites and burns”.

Yet despite all of this Judge Alison Raeside returned Sara Sharif to her father. You wouldn’t return a dog to its owner who had these kinds of accusations made against him in relation to animals but it is fine to send a child back there.

So glad the female judges are in there looking out for the rights of women and children. Whether or not "John Smith" would have had his daughter returned to him in similar circumstances I leave the reader to decide.