Coroner orders Surrey to disclose 24,000+ documents in Sara Sharif case: report

Sara was aged 10 when found dead at her family home in Woking, and her father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool were jailed for life in 2024 for murder.

The eight-week inquest is expected to examine what state agencies knew, or ought to have known, about Sara's safety.

Senior coroner Richard Travers told Surrey that he wants “all of the pages” of evidence disclosed to him by 2 October.

He said he would call county chief executive Terence Herbert to appear before him if the papers are not delivered by then.

The BBC said Surrey’s legal representative, Alethea Redfern, argued against the full disclosure of the documents, but Mr Travers said he did not understand why the council disputed the need for disclosure.

He said: “This is going to be an order of the court. It is not up to Surrey County Council to decide what's to be disclosed and what's not to be disclosed.”

A review into the case found multiple failings from agencies in the lead up to Sara’s murder and said "the system failed to keep her safe”.

Surrey has previously apologised and said it had taken “robust action” to address earlier findings.

A Surrey spokesperson said the council had no comment to make.

Mark Smulian