Sara Sharif case

[EllenDeGenerate]

“She loved to be on the stage and singing and performing. That was her happy space."


Detail here that her teacher saw bruises, school made a safeguarding referral. BB was defensive. She was heard swearing in Punjabi at the other children.

Sara Sharif: Teacher saw bruises on face of girl, 10, court hears

Jurors previously heard Sara had been hooded, burned and beaten during more than two years of abuse.

www.bbc.com

That pic of this poor little girl in full makeup creeps me out somehow

 

[HotesTilaire]

That pic of this poor little girl in full makeup creeps me out somehow

It’s from a mummy daughter session with her real mum

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

But that's not the point I was making. It's that good people are doing a poor job not because they don't care or can't be arsed but because there is a systemic failure to recognise and validate the work they do. So funding is poor, workloads are high and it's virtually impossible to do a good job. My friend left because she couldn't bare to do an adequate or bare minimum job for children who deserve the world. I do not believe that a single person goes into social work to be tit at their job, it's essentially vocational because it's crap money for what's involved and the pressure and stress are unbearable whilst the stakes for any human error are huge.

I don’t think people generally go into any profession to be tit to be fair but I also don’t think any profession is safe from people being tit at it - no matter how bad the pay is for what is involved.

As I said, it’s only social work that gets the defence there and “it’s essentially vocational” shouting down questioning - any other profession even those that are underfunded and high stress (eg teaching) people accept that individuals could be a problem.

There is a lot of danger in beatifying everyone working within a specific profession and insisting the only issues can possibly be the underfunding and workload so there’s nothing that can be done by those working within it.

 

[Mrsell]

I don’t think people generally go into any profession to be tit to be fair but I also don’t think any profession is safe from people being tit at it - no matter how bad the pay is for what is involved.

As I said, it’s only social work that gets the defence there and “it’s essentially vocational” shouting down questioning - any other profession even those that are underfunded and high stress (eg teaching) people accept that individuals could be a problem.

There is a lot of danger in beatifying everyone working within a specific profession and insisting the only issues can possibly be the underfunding and workload so there’s nothing that can be done by those working within it.

I accept your point but could not disagree with you more. That's the beauty of these threads, everyone gets the right to voice their opinion

 

[HotesTilaire]

I do think the “I know a great social worker” is usually a reply to “why are social workers so tit, they could have prevented this/ yet another failure by SS” It’s not that SS are the best or worst people in the world.
It plays out this way because some people think there’s no excuse for a Social Worker failing to prevent the child’s abuse and death, and other people know why even the most competent and dedicated professional could fail due to the tit circumstances of the caseload and stresses.

That’s before you get into the tit social workers who float around being useless, ineffectiveness and sometimes harmful and offensive, but will pick up agency work easily because there are so many vacancies.

 

[moldwarp]

A cricket bat. Jesus christ.
Seeing her smiling face is breaking my heart.

I really do not like that black hijab pic. She’s not smiling, she’s grimacing. Her eyes look full of fear (cover the lower portion of her face and it’s v obvious) and her face looks bloated which can be a symptom of poor nutrition in children.

@HotesTilaire yes I also wondered whether jinns might come into it. Not sure the parents’ beliefs were that conservative but it might’ve been used to explain the targeted abuse to the other children. Demonic possession also made an appearance in the pathetic excuses of the killer of poor little Victoria Climbié.

 

[HotesTilaire]

I really do not like that black hijab pic. She’s not smiling, she’s grimacing. Her eyes look full of fear (cover the lower portion of her face and it’s v obvious) and her face looks bloated which can be a symptom of poor nutrition in children.

@HotesTilaire yes I also wondered whether jinns might come into it. Not sure the parents’ beliefs were that conservative but it might’ve been used to explain the targeted abuse to the other children. Demonic possession also made an appearance in the pathetic excuses of the killer of poor little Victoria Climbié.

It‘s often in there somewhere, and not necessarily due to a strong belief in it but as an excuse, a reason why one is different and “deserves” bad treatment or the “abuse” is to the spirit, not the child (I think there was a strong belief in Victoria’s case, especially the aunt who was also mentally unwell) they may not be conservative in their religion, but they still might believe in jinns causing problems.

 

[Lynn’ssnazzycardigan]

It’s quite often the case in abusive families that one child is made a scapegoat, I can believe that people would use anything as an excuse to justify it.

 

[HotesTilaire]

I wonder whether being a mixed-race girl was enough of a “problem“ for the family. The older boy is a boy and for Social Services to determine the most suitable home would mean the same home for both of the siblings, so Sara has to be included but may not have been particularly wanted.

when are the accused up, next week?

 

[2ofeach]

I want these guys to die a very long drawn out painful death....

 

[Lynn’ssnazzycardigan]

I wonder whether being a mixed-race girl was enough of a “problem“ for the family. The older boy is a boy and for Social Services to determine the most suitable home would mean the same home for both of the siblings, so Sara has to be included but may not have been particularly wanted.

when are the accused up, next week?

I wonder about the placement of Sara and her brother. I get the impression that US was an abusive bully to his partners and suspect their mother was left in, or made out to be of, no fit mental state to keep them when they split. It would correlate with BB messages. I don’t absolve BB in any way if she was a victim of DV because she obviously abused Sara as well but I think she will play the victim for mitigation and there will be evidence to back it up. I also think the uncle will either plead ignorance or claim he was controlled by US. I just hope the judge doesn’t give any leniency for any reason, this is the worst case I’ve ever read about and anyone with any involvement should face the maximum penalty allowed. Sadly it would not surprise me if the other children had been made to treat Sara badly and even in just witnessing it they are also victims. I wish we could know if they were being supported because I can’t imagine the damage this has done to them and how they will see themselves in the future.

 

[Whataday21]

I wonder about the placement of Sara and her brother. I get the impression that US was an abusive bully to his partners and suspect their mother was left in, or made out to be of, no fit mental state to keep them when they split. It would correlate with BB messages. I don’t absolve BB in any way if she was a victim of DV because she obviously abused Sara as well but I think she will play the victim for mitigation and there will be evidence to back it up. I also think the uncle will either plead ignorance or claim he was controlled by US. I just hope the judge doesn’t give any leniency for any reason, this is the worst case I’ve ever read about and anyone with any involvement should face the maximum penalty allowed. Sadly it would not surprise me if the other children had been made to treat Sara badly and even in just witnessing it they are also victims. I wish we could know if they were being supported because I can’t imagine the damage this has done to them and how they will see themselves in the future.

I'm disinclined to go down the route BB was abused by him because the whole purpose of them putting SS in the hijab was to hide the abuse and the bruises whereas the only time BB has worn one was in Pakistan. They got custody of the kids in 2019 and she sent that text the same year so from the get go, she was planning her alibi and her campaign of abuse against the girl. Getting custody of his other children must have sent her into a rage because she didn't really want them, she just wanted him and the children they had together.

 

[HotesTilaire]

I’m interested to see how it plays out. I can see that BB seems to be UK educated and raised and could be a manipulative bully. I can see US seems to be an abuser but also not raised in the UK, less good English, less able to play games in court than BB. The brother IDK. They’re all guys at the end of the day.

 

[Droosie123]

This is why I wpuld NEVER be a children’s SW. You are damned no matter what you do while dealing with an impossible caseload. I’d do it if I had a crystal ball but apart from that not a prayer. You are dealing with cunning and avoidant families art times who will go out of their way to prevent you seeing the true picture.
We can moan all we like but until serious investment is made into these services then give thanks that these cases are rare enough to make the news.

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

I do think the “I know a great social worker” is usually a reply to “why are social workers so tit, they could have prevented this/ yet another failure by SS” It’s not that SS are the best or worst people in the world.
It plays out this way because some people think there’s no excuse for a Social Worker failing to prevent the child’s abuse and death, and other people know why even the most competent and dedicated professional could fail due to the tit circumstances of the caseload and stresses.

That’s before you get into the tit social workers who float around being useless, ineffectiveness and sometimes harmful and offensive, but will pick up agency work easily because there are so many vacancies.

BIB is exactly what I mean, they exist just as they do in every profession and in some ways, the larger amount of vacancies benefits them more than anyone else. They may not have gone into it intending to be tit, but it happens and it’s ok to consider whether that is a possibility in each case. It may not be - it’s often a workload thing, a funding thing or agencies not talking to each other so nobody joined all the dots, but sometimes it is a tit social worker that contributed to it - and all insisting they don’t exist does is gives them a shield to hide around.

 

[HotesTilaire]

BIB is exactly what I mean, they exist just as they do in every profession and in some ways, the larger amount of vacancies benefits them more than anyone else. They may not have gone into it intending to be tit, but it happens and it’s ok to consider whether that is a possibility in each case. It may not be - it’s often a workload thing, a funding thing or agencies not talking to each other so nobody joined all the dots, but sometimes it is a tit social worker that contributed to it - and all insisting they don’t exist does is gives them a shield to hide around.

No, there are absolutely some who would be tit even if you paid them a million quid and a full caseload of 1 child. I don’t even know how some of them got their degrees.

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

No, there are absolutely some who would be tit even if you paid them a million quid and a full caseload of 1 child. I don’t even know how some of them got their degrees.

100%. And the environment of being overworked and underpaid allows them to proliferate and slide under the radar.

It’s not exclusive to SS either, another example is the care industry particularly in care homes. Lots of carers are overworked and underpaid, doing way more than they are paid for and going out of their way to be amazing, wracked with guilt at the thought of missing something important or making a mistake that leads to an injury/death but some are absolutely tit and shouldn’t be anywhere near vulnerable people. Acknowledging the latter isn’t an insult to the former.

 

[Mollywobbles]

100%. And the environment of being overworked and underpaid allows them to proliferate and slide under the radar.

It’s not exclusive to SS either, another example is the care industry particularly in care homes. Lots of carers are overworked and underpaid, doing way more than they are paid for and going out of their way to be amazing, wracked with guilt at the thought of missing something important or making a mistake that leads to an injury/death but some are absolutely tit and shouldn’t be anywhere near vulnerable people. Acknowledging the latter isn’t an insult to the former.

Exactly!
Where I live carers are on minimum wage. Many are foreign and this is the only job they can get. (Not a racist comment, I respect the fact that they take on this kind of work.)
Often their English is not good or their accent is difficult to understand which is not good for their clients who are often elderly. They are on a tight timescale so don’t have time to spend with their clients who need not just care but time for a chat.
However the companies they work for are taking in the money!
Until we treat our carers with more respect their are those in need of care who are suffering as a result.

 

[Nelly's mum]

This is why I wpuld NEVER be a children’s SW. You are damned no matter what you do while dealing with an impossible caseload. I’d do it if I had a crystal ball but apart from that not a prayer. You are dealing with cunning and avoidant families art times who will go out of their way to prevent you seeing the true picture.
We can moan all we like but until serious investment is made into these services then give thanks that these cases are rare enough to make the news.

You would also want a magic wand to go with that crystal ball ..

 

[moldwarp]

I wonder whether being a mixed-race girl was enough of a “problem“ for the family. The older boy is a boy and for Social Services to determine the most suitable home would mean the same home for both of the siblings, so Sara has to be included but may not have been particularly wanted.

when are the accused up, next week?

It’s possible. Poor little Logan Mwangi, his main torturer (can’t remember the tit’s name, he was the boyfriend) was a racist bleep who used Logan’s mixed heritage against him.