I have no words, this is truly horrific - so angry yet again a child is let down by everyone ... So so awful 
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This is even worse than I thought it would be (and I thought it would be very bad). I can't bear to think about what she went through. The uncle, stepmother and especially the father, are monsters obviously, and the behaviour of the neighbours is appalling.
This case has sickened me and we are so early into this trial
I’m probably overthinking this and seeing things that aren’t there, but does it look like an old bruise/mark under her left eye in this photo? Maybe not, nothing’s been made of it or picked up by the media.
Her little face, what terror had she already experienced 
That poor poor girl. I'm sure there are many fantastic fathers with full parental responsibility but my god there are some piss poor ones, and ones who then bring vicious, jealous and hateful step mothers into their children's lives. Women can be exceptionally cruel too.
The last two safeguarding referrals I have made have uncovered two separate teenage girls whose mother's have left them with their father's (willingly or not). One father refused to take any time off work to take his daughter to the dentist, for YEARS, which got so bad her front adult tooth literally fell out in front of me. The other was terribly neglected in terms of hygiene because her father would not provide her with or even discuss feminine hygiene.
These poor kids just slip under the radar, particularly when 'cultural sensitivity' is at play. It's making a mockery of what should be reasonably robust systems we have to keep kids safe. It's hard enough keeping an eye on our general population without turning a blind eye with minorities.
That poor girl, I hope she knew joy in her short life.
The last two safeguarding referrals I have made have uncovered two separate teenage girls whose mother's have left them with their father's (willingly or not). One father refused to take any time off work to take his daughter to the dentist, for YEARS, which got so bad her front adult tooth literally fell out in front of me. The other was terribly neglected in terms of hygiene because her father would not provide her with or even discuss feminine hygiene.
These poor kids just slip under the radar, particularly when 'cultural sensitivity' is at play. It's making a mockery of what should be reasonably robust systems we have to keep kids safe. It's hard enough keeping an eye on our general population without turning a blind eye with minorities.
That poor girl, I hope she knew joy in her short life.
Please forgive my naivety here, I have thought the same about those 2 sets of twins that died in the fire a while ago… I appreciate that SS involvement can help/assist in these cases but if they’re not there 24/7 monitoring the house (as obviously they can’t) how can they prevent or foresee this happening? A genuine question here, not trying to be argumentative or anything. Just we have seen how women have reported stalkers to police only to be killed by said stalker shortly after etc. There’s only so much SS can do. Obviously responding to certain reports, putting children on protection plans and so on. But ultimately, it’s takes a minute or 2 to kill someone. Surely if you’re so intent on doing it, no amount of ‘plans and supervision’ is going to stop that. Sorry, I know this is me thinking out loud and all of these things not exclusive to what I’ve already mentioned is going to change anything, I just wonder what people expect is going to change with a visit or two a week from a social worker? 
I don’t know what the answer is, but there’s got to be more that SS can do, although of course needs more funding and more people. But to close a case for someone who isn’t engaging (I think in the twins fire case) is obviously not the way to do it.Please forgive my naivety here, I have thought the same about those 2 sets of twins that died in the fire a while ago… I appreciate that SS involvement can help/assist in these cases but if they’re not there 24/7 monitoring the house (as obviously they can’t) how can they prevent or foresee this happening? A genuine question here, not trying to be argumentative or anything. Just we have seen how women have reported stalkers to police only to be killed by said stalker shortly after etc. There’s only so much SS can do. Obviously responding to certain reports, putting children on protection plans and so on. But ultimately, it’s takes a minute or 2 to kill someone. Surely if you’re so intent on doing it, no amount of ‘plans and supervision’ is going to stop that. Sorry, I know this is me thinking out loud and all of these things not exclusive to what I’ve already mentioned is going to change anything, I just wonder what people expect is going to change with a visit or two a week from a social worker?
But that’s why (in my opinion) it’s so important that everyone reports it if they have concerns, the more it’s on the radar, the more reasons services have for intervening.
I feel this way about people saying her being home schooled should have been investigated more. If the LA went to the house and the adults toed the line and said all the right things, everything was clean and tidy, and there were no obvious physical markings on Sara what can they do?Please forgive my naivety here, I have thought the same about those 2 sets of twins that died in the fire a while ago… I appreciate that SS involvement can help/assist in these cases but if they’re not there 24/7 monitoring the house (as obviously they can’t) how can they prevent or foresee this happening? A genuine question here, not trying to be argumentative or anything. Just we have seen how women have reported stalkers to police only to be killed by said stalker shortly after etc. There’s only so much SS can do. Obviously responding to certain reports, putting children on protection plans and so on. But ultimately, it’s takes a minute or 2 to kill someone. Surely if you’re so intent on doing it, no amount of ‘plans and supervision’ is going to stop that. Sorry, I know this is me thinking out loud and all of these things not exclusive to what I’ve already mentioned is going to change anything, I just wonder what people expect is going to change with a visit or two a week from a social worker?
it’s not an episode of a BBC daytime programme where professionals are getting way too involved in people’s lives and crossing professional boundaries. You can’t start stripping her off to look for bruising on a gut instinct. It’s a very difficult line to tread.
Like others have said, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, not a buck to be passed around.
It sounds as if the bruises were fairly visible. A female social worker saying to Sara and her stepmum that they were all women there, and could Sara pop her hijab off a moment, would have been enough. By the sounds of it.
You are right, there is only so much the state can do, and that is truly tit to realise and accept. I think it stops others intervening when they should because they think the authorities are better placed to deal with it, when in reality they aren't. And I don't think it's funding etc. You cannot legislate and monitor this level of abuse, especially as others have said the perpetrators know how to play the game. There is no place in the world that has created a watertight system and there never will be, sadly.
Does anyone know how long that woman was in Sara's life? I was convinced it was all her doing, but hearing some of the updates, it looks like all the adults had their part in hurting her.
The eldest sibling is 13, that’s Sara’s brother, then Sara was 10. Then there’s 4 younger children, the youngest was 1 at the time, so at the very least 4/5 years.
ETA the first message they’ve found from her to her sister about Sara was 2019.
To be fair, I don't think it's cultural sensitivity per se that's at fault - it's the fact that abusers will USE cultural hesitancy/ignorance to hide or explain what they are doing.
I'm also with @Snowfairy08 on this one I think even when SS are heavily involved (as they were with Baby P), if abusers want to abuse and kill they will.
I think it's natural for us as a collective to want to blame something in the system when something like this happens, because we don't want to face the more uncomfortable fact that some so-called 'parents' are evil and will abuse and kill, and will find a way to do so EVEN IF they are being monitored or sent to parenting class or whatever.
Like, evil human beings have always been a minority that exists within the homo sapiens species. Whether you call it evil or mentally ill or amoral, whether you think it's nature or nurture or (as I do) an unholy collision of both, that's just the way it is.
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Social services can’t fully protect every child, of course some abusers will always find a way. But there are many many children who have been protected by SS, there have even been posters on this thread who have been the child. You just don’t hear about these cases on the news like the failings do.
SS can give children a safe adult to confide in(on this case either Sara herself or one of her siblings). They can check in on a child regularly, imagine if they came when Sara was injured because some of her injuries would have been very obvious in the way she presented/moved even if any bruises were hidden under clothes. Ultimately if they believe a child is at risk they can apply to remove them from the home. On a wider scale they also have the ability to support and help parents who need it, from putting pressure on councils about inadequate housing to accessing respite care.
i’ve already said on their thread that there are big issues with SS and it could do with an overhaul, they are not perfect but they are what we have. Could they have saved Sara? We don’t know, but all professionals involved in her life should have followed procedures etc so it will be interesting to see what did or didn’t go on behind the scenes.
As for home ed, there is little the LEA can do,parents don’t have to meet or engage with them. Generally parents are advised to keep everything in writing due to many LEA’s acting appallingly. However it would be very easy to write a written responses to satisfy them that an education is being received and then usually they will go away for 12 months. They can issue a SAO if they don’t think an education is taking place and then it goes to court but these aren’t that common.
SS can give children a safe adult to confide in(on this case either Sara herself or one of her siblings). They can check in on a child regularly, imagine if they came when Sara was injured because some of her injuries would have been very obvious in the way she presented/moved even if any bruises were hidden under clothes. Ultimately if they believe a child is at risk they can apply to remove them from the home. On a wider scale they also have the ability to support and help parents who need it, from putting pressure on councils about inadequate housing to accessing respite care.
i’ve already said on their thread that there are big issues with SS and it could do with an overhaul, they are not perfect but they are what we have. Could they have saved Sara? We don’t know, but all professionals involved in her life should have followed procedures etc so it will be interesting to see what did or didn’t go on behind the scenes.
As for home ed, there is little the LEA can do,parents don’t have to meet or engage with them. Generally parents are advised to keep everything in writing due to many LEA’s acting appallingly. However it would be very easy to write a written responses to satisfy them that an education is being received and then usually they will go away for 12 months. They can issue a SAO if they don’t think an education is taking place and then it goes to court but these aren’t that common.
I know that area reasonably well and it's sadly a real problem in parts of Surrey. People see a wealthy county but actually education and child services are incredibly poorly funded there. A close friend works in child services and they are on their knees. There is a large caseload and there is constant ongoing recruitment for social workers but vacancies are going unfilled.
This case highlights how we are failing young people. It's been a struggle to see the headlines about this poor little soul.
This case highlights how we are failing young people. It's been a struggle to see the headlines about this poor little soul.
It could be lack of sleep
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Not sure if it's already been talked about but those messages from the step mum to her sister about the dad beating Sarah,was it really her doing all the beating? I've not read too much about this case for obvious reasons. Poor Sara
I did actually read last night that the make-up photo was from a makeover session she had as a mother-daughter girly treat with her real mum. So my assumptions about it yesterday were totally wrong and I guess I'd rather that photo, from a time she was happy, was used rather than the hijab ones where her eyes look desperate and we know it was covering bruises.
Now see I absolutely think those texts were Batool trying to cover her tracks. She strikes me as the sort to watch police procedurals and therefore think she's some kind of criminal mastermind who can beat/dodge the system thru her own cunning. The language she used in that execrable video ('incident' / 'fight our case') struck me as similar.---
Not sure if it's already been talked about but those messages from the step mum to her sister about the dad beating Sarah,was it really her doing all the beating? I've not read too much about this case for obvious reasons. Poor Sara
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