Coroner orders Surrey council to disclose over 24,000 documents in Sara Sharif inquest

Surrey County Council has been directed by a coroner to disclose more than 24,000 documents for the inquest into the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif.

Sara was discovered dead in a bunk bed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023.

Her father and stepmother – Urfan Sharif, 44, and Beinash Batool, 32 – received life sentences with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively in December 2024, after being convicted of her murder.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 31, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Concerns regarding Sara’s care were raised within a week of her birth in 2013, and her parents were known to social services as early as 2010, it has been reported.

Senior Coroner Richard Travers instructed Surrey County Council to disclose 24,606 documents relating to Sara’s siblings, a pre-inquest review at Surrey Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday.

During the preliminary proceedings, Mr Travers stated that he wants "all of the pages" to be disclosed to him.

However, Alethea Redfern, representing the authority, spoke against the full disclosure of the files and said that many are "irrelevant" to the inquest.

She said there needs to be a review of the paperwork by the council, adding that some documents relate to matters with "no connection" to the circumstances of Ms Sharif’s death.

Ms Redfern argued that disclosure of all the documents, held in an electronic format, will go beyond what is "necessary".

However, Mr Travers said he does not understand what the council’s "issue" is with him obtaining the pages.

"This is going to be an order of the court," he said. "It is not up to Surrey County Council to decide what’s to be disclosed and what’s not to be disclosed."

Mr Travers requested that all the pages be disclosed to him by the afternoon of 2 October.

He said if he fails to receive the documents, he will require the attendance of the authority’s chief executive at the coroner’s court.

The inquest into Sara’s death was due to take place in April next year; however, Mr Travers said he will adjourn the proceedings to a later date in October.

The coroner said he is not prepared to "rush" proceedings, adding that inquests are "important hearings" that must be done "properly".

During Thursday’s proceedings, three individuals set to give evidence at Sara’s inquest applied for anonymity to prevent their identities from being reported by the media.

The coroner heard submissions and said he will make a decision at an unknown later date.