Judges in Sara Sharif case will be revealed next week

Court of Appeal bows to media pressure with its ruling

- BRYONY GOOCH

Three judges who oversaw Sara Sharif’s family court cases before she was murdered by her father and stepmother can be named in seven days, a court has ruled.

The Court of Appeal has accepted an appeal after several media organisations challenged Mr Justice Williams’ controversial ruling that those who presided over a string of family court hearings before the 10-year-old’s death could not be identified.

Mr Justice Williams originally cited a “real risk” of harm to them from a “virtual lynch mob” as he said that to suggest family court officials should be held accountable for Sara’s death was “equivalent to holding the lookout on the Titanic responsible for its sinking”.

In the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Sir Geoffrey Vos said: “In the circumstances of this case, the judge had no jurisdiction to anonymise the historic judges either on 9 December 2024 or thereafter.”

A shocking trial saw Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, being found guilty of her murder after she suffered a catalogue of 70 injuries, including 25 fractures, human bite marks and burns. Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing her death while living with them.