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The judges who oversaw family court proceedings involving Sara Sharif in the years before her death have been named following a Court of Appeal ruling.

Judges Alison Raeside, Peter Nathan and Sally Williams were all involved in proceedings related to the 10-year-old between 2013 and 2019.

Sara was placed in the home of her father, Urfan Sharif, and her stepmother, Beinash Batool, following the last of three sets of proceedings.

Judge Raeside, who remains an active judge, dealt with the majority of the hearings related to Sara.

Judges Nathan and Williams – who have both since retired – were involved to a lesser degree.

Several media organisations appealed against a restriction on naming judges.

Sara, 10, was murdered by Sharif and Batool in Woking, Surrey, in 2023. They were jailed for life last year.

Urfan Sharif
Pic: Surrey Police
Image:
Urfan Sharif. Pic: Surrey Police

The first set of proceedings heard Surrey County Council had a “number of concerns in relation to the care that (Olga Sharif) and Mr Sharif provide Z and U (Sara’s siblings) and are likely to provide to Sara”.

Judge Raeside approved the children being placed under supervision orders, meaning they stayed in their parents’ care.

That decision was supported by the council, the children’s guardian and Sara’s parents.

In November 2014, after child Z was found with an arm injury consistent with an adult bite mark, Sara and her two siblings were taken into police protection.

Olga Sharif, Sara’s mother, later accepted a caution after being charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The following day, Judge Raeside extended the same order for a week, with Judge Williams making an interim care order for Sara and one of her siblings as proceedings continued in 2015.

That was Judge Williams’s only involvement in the case.

At the end of the same set of proceedings, a hearing before Judge Raeside was told the local authority was “extremely concerned” that Sara and child U were “likely to suffer significant emotional and physical harm in their parents’ care”, as both alleged the other was violent.

Despite those allegations, however, the council still concluded “the risk can be managed” if Sara was returned to her mother’s care, with supervised contact with her father.

That decision was supported by the children’s guardian, while Judge Raeside approved the plan in May 2015.

Sara was moved to the property where she was later murdered in 2019.

She had made accusations of physical abuse by her mother, which were never proven.

In a report for a final hearing in October 2019, a social worker told the court they assessed that “Urfan and Beinash are able to meet Sara and (U’s) needs for safety, stability, emotional warmth and guidance”, adding that Urfan Sharif “appears to have the children’s welfare at heart”.

That move was also supported by the children’s guardian and Sara’s parents and was approved by Judge Raeside.

Beinash Batool.
Pic: Surrey Police
Image:
Beinash Batool. Pic: Surrey Police

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The press was previously barred from reporting the names of the judges and other professionals involved in the case.

The High Court ruled they had “acted within the parameters that law and social work practice set for them”.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled last week that the media could name the judges in the interests of open justice.

It had heard that the judges wanted to “convey their profound shock, horror and sadness about what happened to Sara Sharif”.

Surrey County Council was involved with the Sharif family for several years before Sara’s death.

Concerns about Sara’s care were raised within a week of her birth in 2013, while her parents were known to social services as early as 2010.

Surrey County Council repeatedly raised “significant concerns” that the child was likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents.

While there were the three sets of family court proceedings mentioned above, allegations that Urfan Sharif was physically abusing Sara and her siblings were never tested in court.

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Body recovered from River Dee amid search for missing sisters in Aberdeen

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Body recovered from River Dee amid search for missing sisters in Aberdeen

A body has been found near to where two missing sisters disappeared in Aberdeen.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both aged 32, were last spotted on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday 7 January.

The women were seen crossing the bridge and turning right on to a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

The siblings’ disappearance sparked a major Police Scotland operation, with the force’s extensive searches of the River Dee coming to an end earlier this week.

On Friday it was confirmed a body had been recovered from the water, but identification is yet to take place.

A force spokesperson said: “Police Scotland was made aware of the body of a person seen in the River Dee near Queen Elizabeth Bridge in Aberdeen around 7.55am on Friday 31 January 2025.

“The body has since been recovered from the water.

“Enquiries are at an early stage and identification is yet to take place.”

A Police dive boat on the River Dee at Aberdeen harbour during the ongoing search for missing sisters, Eliza and Henrietta Huszti. The pair were last seen on CCTV on Market Street at Victoria Bridge, Aberdeen, at about 2.12am on Tuesday January 7. Picture date: Tuesday January 14, 2025.
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A police dive boat pictured on the River Dee at Aberdeen Harbour earlier this month. Pic: PA

A Police dive boat on the River Dee at Aberdeen harbour during the ongoing search for missing sisters, Eliza and Henrietta Huszti. The pair were last seen on CCTV on Market Street at Victoria Bridge, Aberdeen, at about 2.12am on Tuesday January 7. Picture date: Tuesday January 14, 2025.
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Pic: PA

Investigating officers previously said there had been “no evidence” of the women leaving the immediate area and there had been nothing to suggest “suspicious circumstances or criminality”.

The police revealed that the sisters – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – visited the bridge where they were last seen about 12 hours before they disappeared.

They also sent a text message to their landlady on the morning they vanished, indicating they would not be returning to the flat.

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Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

In a statement released via Police Scotland earlier this month, the family said: “This has been a very worrying and upsetting time for our family.

“We are really worried about Eliza and Henrietta and all we want is for them to be found.”

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Michael Matheson: Furore over £11,000 iPad bill ‘completely blown out of all proportion’, says shamed MSP

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Michael Matheson: Furore over £11,000 iPad bill 'completely blown out of all proportion', says shamed MSP

The furore surrounding Michael Matheson’s near £11,000 iPad data roaming bill was “completely blown out of all proportion”, according to the shamed MSP.

The SNP politician stepped down as Scotland’s health secretary last year after questions were raised over the eye-watering invoice.

The Falkirk West MSP had initially billed taxpayers before U-turning, claiming the device had only been used for parliamentary work during a family holiday to Morocco.

It later emerged his teenage sons had been using the work iPad as a hotspot to stream football while on the trip.

Mr Matheson was later suspended from the Scottish parliament and docked wages for breaching the MSP code of conduct.

Mr Matheson, who was first elected as an MSP in 1999, was questioned about his ministerial career during an interview with the Institute for Government (IFG) think tank as part of its Ministers Reflect series.

During the talk, held in October last year but published on Friday, he said his opponents had sought to take “political advantage” of the situation.

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Mr Matheson said: “I think the thing that you need to realise is that when you become a minister, if you do make a mistake, you can end up in the eye of a political storm.

“The thing that acted as a big catalyst for me was that, as soon as the general election was called, everything was put on steroids.

“It became a massive issue because folk saw a political advantage they could get from it. It just got completely blown out of all proportion, in my view.”

SNP's Michael Matheson during First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday May 16, 2024
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Mr Matheson during First Minister’s Questions last May. Pic: PA

Mr Matheson was the net zero, energy and transport secretary in Nicola Sturgeon’s government at the time of the family holiday around Christmas in 2022.

Ahead of the trip he failed to replace an outdated SIM card, which led to increased data use costs.

Mr Matheson, who was later appointed health secretary in March 2023 under then first minister Humza Yousaf, told Holyrood he was unaware that his sons had used the iPad as a hotspot when he initially submitted the bill.

He claimed he was told the truth by his wife after the story sparked a public outcry.

Following his wife’s admission, Mr Matheson initially failed to publicly mention his sons’ involvement.

Instead, he continued to insist the iPad was only used for parliamentary work and blamed the outdated SIM card for the excessive bill.

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Mr Matheson’s sons racked up the near £11,000 iPad bill streaming football abroad

When questioned by journalists days after he knew the truth, he continued to deny the iPad was used for personal use until he made a statement to Holyrood.

Mr Matheson quit as health secretary ahead of the conclusion of a probe by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), which ruled he had breached the MSP code of conduct.

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When asked if there were any lessons to be learned for other ministers, he told the IFG: “If I look back, the lesson I would say is recognising how unforgiving the political space is that you’re operating in.

“In the end, it was my desire to try and avoid the press knowing about what my son had done.

“It was completely unforgiving, despite the fact that when you offer it up, then they say you’re using it as a cover. Actually, no, I’m not, but I’m telling you that’s what’s happened.

“So, I think what I would say to ministers is that it is quite unforgiving at times when something like that happens, despite what your background is and how long you’ve been in government and how you’ve always tried to avoid getting the government into any difficult positions.”

EMBARGOED TO 0001 FRIDAY JANUARY 31 File photo dated 23/11/23 of Minister for Health and Social Care Michael Matheson speaks to the media after First Minster's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh. John Swinney has said Parliament's "conclusions stand" after comments from Michael Matheson emerged in which the former health secretary said the row over his iPad roaming charges had been "blown out of proportion". Issue date: Friday January 31, 2025.
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Mr Matheson being questioned by journalists in November 2023, on the day the SPBC announced it was launching a probe into his conduct

He added: “When you’re a backbencher, if you do make an error, it’s not the same.

“But when you’re a minister and you’re a senior minister, you’re going to get chased down and you quite literally get chased down.”

Mr Matheson said a number of people reached out in support during the scandal.

He also said the scrutiny had a “significant impact” on his family, which included taking his teenage sons out of school and his wife becoming “unwell with stress”.

He added: “It’s in the public record that our house got broken into.”

When questioned about Mr Matheson’s latest comments, First Minister John Swinney said: “The parliament’s worked its way through all of these issues and it’s come to its conclusions and those conclusions stand.

“We just have to consider that as the conclusion that parliament has arrived at.”

The Scottish Conservatives criticised Mr Matheson’s remarks.

MSP Rachael Hamilton, the party’s deputy leader, said: “Taxpayers will be outraged that Michael Matheson is trying to downplay the scandal that ultimately forced him to resign in disgrace.

“The public were rightly furious that the then SNP health secretary thought it acceptable to ask them to foot the bill for his [iPad] expenses.

“He then repeatedly lied to them and parliament and refused to say sorry for what he had done.

“No wonder Scots are so disillusioned with senior SNP figures at Holyrood when they continue to hold voters in such contempt.”

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Singer Marianne Faithfull dies at the age of 78

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Singer Marianne Faithfull dies at the age of 78

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78.

A spokesperson for her music promotion company Republic Media said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull.

“Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family.

“She will be dearly missed.”

Marianne Faithfull in 1995. Pic: Reuters
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Faithfull in 1995. Pic: Reuters

Faithfull was best known for her 1964 hit As Tears Go By, written by Sir Mick Jagger, with whom she had a well-publicised relationship, and fellow Rolling Stones star Keith Richards.

She also starred in films including The Girl On A Motorcycle and 2007’s Irina Palm, for which she was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress.

In recent years, she provided voice work for the 2021 remake of Dune and 2023’s Wild Summon.

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The Girl On A Motorcycle - 1968
Marianne Faithfull

1968
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Film Stills, Personality, Entertainment

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MOTORBIKE JACK CARDIFF
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Faithfull in The Girl On A Motorcycle. Pic: Mid-Atlantic/Ares/Claridge/Kobal/Shutterstock

She and Sir Mick began seeing each other in 1966 and became one of the most glamorous couples of Swinging London.

He paid tribute to his “wonderful friend and beautiful singer and a great actress”, and said he was “so saddened” by her death, as “she was so much part of my life for so long”.

Next to a picture of the pair arm in arm on Instagram, Sir Mick said Faithfull “will always be remembered”.

His Stones bandmates Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards also paid tribute, with Richards posting on Instagram that he was “so sad and will miss her.”

His post was accompanied by a picture of the pair enjoying a drink together.

Wood wrote on Jagger’s post: “Farewell dear Marianne.”

Born in 1946, Faithfull started her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by the Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Her self-titled debut album was released a year later, with As Tears Go By reaching number nine on the UK singles chart.

She went on to have a string of successful singles, including Come And Stay With Me, This Little Bird, and Summer Nights, and famously dated Sir Mick from 1966 to 1970.

Faithfull was prolific throughout the 60s, releasing six albums – some only in the UK and some for the US – as well as contributing backing vocals to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and inspiring the Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil.

That decade also saw her star in films like 1967’s I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname – where she was one of the first people to say f*** in a mainstream studio film – 1968’s The Girl On A Motorcycle, and Tony Richardson’s 1969 adaptation of Hamlet.

Her affair with Sir Mick was notorious, with the couple being arrested in 1968 for possession of cannabis.

She was also infamously found by police wearing only a bear skin rug when they arrived for a drugs raid at Richards’ home in 1967.

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MICK JAGGER AND MARIANNE FAITHFULL BOARD A TRAIN AT EUSTON FOR BANGOR. THEY WILL MEET UP WITH THE BEATLES AND THE MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI - 26.AUG 1967

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Faithfull and Mick Jagger dated from 1966 to 1970. Pic: Shutterstock

After breaking up with the Stones frontman, Faithfull spent two years homeless in Soho while suffering from anorexia and heroin addiction, before she started living in a squat.

She wrote in her 1994 autobiography: “For me, being a junkie was an admirable life. It was total anonymity, something I hadn’t known since I was 17.

“As a street addict in London, I finally found it. I had no telephone, no address.”

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In 1979, following success in Ireland with the country-themed Dreamin’ My Dreams, Faithfull released the Grammy-nominated Broken English – widely considered her best album.

She later achieved critical acclaim as a jazz and blues singer with 1987’s Strange Weather and went to rehab that same decade.

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Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA/Shutterstock

Switzerland Music - Jul 2009
British Singer and Actress Marianne Faithfull Performs on the Miles Davis Hall Stage at the 43rd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux Switzerland Late 13 July 2009 the Festival Runs Until 18 July Switzerland Schweiz Suisse Montreux

14 Jul 2009
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Faithfull performing in Montreux, Switzerland, in 2009. Pic: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA/Shutterstock

Faithfull released a total of 21 solo albums throughout her career. Her most recent was the spoken word album She Walks In Beauty from 2021, which saw her work with frequent Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.

She made a full recovery from breast cancer in 2006.

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