James O'Brien reacts to the 'unbearable' Sara Sharif story | LBC

The father of murdered schoolgirl Sara Sharif was known to authorities over previous allegations of domestic and child abuse, false imprisonment and making threats to kill.

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of Sara's murder. Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, who lived with them, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.

The 10-year-old was found dead in a bunk bed of their family home in Woking on August 8 2023. She had been beaten to death.

James O'Brien recalls some other children who also died after severe abuse, like Victoria Climbié, Baby Peter Connelly, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, and Star Hobson, pointing out that we will never know all the 485 children who died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect between April 2023 and March 2024 alone.

"We can't turn away...all of these names resonate and ring with a profound sense of horror", James says.

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LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.

[jillhornby]

I was the victim, of an EVIL STEP MOTHER, IT STAYS WITH YOU ALL YOUR LIFE. Rest in peace now little girl.

[JanSaevebek]

Why were the parents allowed to "homeschool" her when she had already been referred to child services 2 or 3 times before?

[nealeduncan]

As someone who always wanted children and was never blessed, it breaks my heart to think of people who have children easily and treat them horrendously. Vile, evil people who don't deserve to be parents. Rest in peace with the angels Sara. ❤

[jameshollyoak]

Why was her dad allowed to have her back, when they knew about his violence ? That judge needs sacking,

[AbsarSyed]

I’m against death penalty.

And then I come across a case like this.

[slartibartfast]

We as a species need to recognise how we treat the powerless. Children and animals. I was a victim and it never goes away.

[sharonb]

Heartbreaking. All children deserve love and respect.

[mangosamosa]

Absolutely horrifying case. This girl was 10 years old when she was killed. Abuse going on for "years" would be most of her time on this world. Even limiting it to counting those numbers of years to the fingers on one hand would be most of her life as a self aware human being. As much as I like to think of myself as an empathetic person, I cannot for the life of me comprehend the thought process of someone who would subject another person - especially a child - to that.

Whether you believe in an afterlife, reincarnation, or neither - may these two never find peace again.

[Bertaut]

The most horrifying thing I've ever seen or heard was Arthur Labinjo-Hughes sitting alone in his bedroom and crying that "nobody loves me." As cynical and world weary as I am, that absolutely destroyed me.

[stephfoxwell]

He'd been reported to Police or social services 8 times since 2013.

[knockshinnoch]

Why was the father given custody when he had a record of assault against women? Sara should've been removed from his "care" at that point.
The system is stretched to breaking point- poorly paid social workers with unworkable caseloads.
A chaotic family background- 3 adults in Sara's life participated in this horrific abuse- I'm struggling to get my head around this.

[eattherich]

The litany of children being murdered by parents and/or guardians go back as far as I can remember. In 1973, Maria Colwell was killed by her stepfather after being returned from foster care to the care of her mother. The resulting enquiry was supposed to change social work, but the deaths at the hands of sociopaths continue. STOP returning at risk children to bad home environments.

[ashleywilson]

We simply don't have the money or resources to fund adequate or cohesive social services. We are not Norway or Finland. They tax the rich to support the vulnerable. We tax the poor and ignore the vulnerable.

[missmaxinethompson]

Been watching this case since it was first reported...I'm just rocking and crying. Just tired of the evil

[GloriaHoulihan]

Malika Al Kattib aged 8 had her throat cut by her father when defending her mother who was being beaten. ☘️
Her funeral was in County Waterford.

[juliet]

The father of Sara Sharif was awarded custody of the schoolgirl despite being accused of abusing her siblings and mother for years.

[matt]

I'm a social worker in adult safeguarding. I refused to go into children's social work because of ridiculously high risk and caseloads. Social workers in children's are senior managers after 3-4 years. There is no way enough experienced workers and most of them leave after a few years

[KahinaKhando]

Ex social worker, and I can say with confidence that until child rights are placed higher up than parental rights, it will continue. The system needs overhaul.

[MatthewSmith-jl]

Same here. Heard about 20 seconds of it and turned it off. I really don't need details and I feel for the people (police, doctors, etc) that have to witness this stuff

[dillsha]

The Sara Shariff case isn't even out of the ordinary, I'm an ex foster carer and pretty much every child is left with parents to be abused for years before social services/judges finally decide the child should be removed from the home, by which time it's far too late and they'll have lifelong trauma, add to that the support for foster carers to help these children is virtually non existent and you get the vast majority of children never recovering or succeeding in life.