'Questions to be answered' over Sara Sharif case, PM says, as number of children harmed by abuse revealed

Sir Keir Starmer says there are "questions to be answered" over the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, as a report reveals hundreds of children died or were seriously harmed by abuse in one year. 

New findings published a day after Sara's father and stepmother were found guilty of her murder show more than 480 children in England were affected by "serious incidents" between April 2023 and March 2024.

One of those children was Sara, who died in August last year after a campaign of abuse.

Sara had been known to social services throughout her life and her father had faced previous allegations of abuse.

Her school had referred concerns about bruises on her face to social services five months before her murder, but the case was closed by social workers days later.

An independent child safeguarding review will now examine whether she was failed by the authorities.

The prime minister described it as an "awful" case.

"My first response is a human response. This is just awful case. It's very hard to see, to read about, for many people who will be viewing, it's just shocking," he said.

"So that's where I start on this. Obviously, there's going to be questions that need to be answered in relation to this case."

In the weeks before her death, Sara was tied up, beaten with a cricket bat, burnt with an iron and even bitten, the Old Bailey heard.

She suffered more than 70 injuries shortly before she was found dead at her house in Woking, with multiple fractures in 25 locations on her body.

Asked if the government would ban smacking children in its Children's Wellbeing Bill, Sir Keir said this case does not have anything to do with smacking.

"This is about violence. It's about abuse. It's about making sure that [there are] protecting safeguards for children, particularly those being home-schooled," he said.

"So that's where I think the questions are. But my response, first and foremost, is just the most awful case that many people, many viewers will find very, very, very hard to hear."

Hundreds of children affected

Data from the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel revealed 485 children died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect in the year to March 31 2024.

Panel chairwoman Annie Hudson reflected on Sara's "harrowing" case, saying the child protection system must change and calling for multi-agency children teams in local authorities.

Of the 330 serious incident notifications received by the panel, just under half - 46% - were for children who died.

More than a third involved babies under one.

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More than half of incidents involving death or serious harm of a child younger than five involved a parent or relevant adult with a mental health condition.

And 16% of children died by suicide, according to the report, with 92% of those who took their own lives recorded as having a mental health condition.