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Anthony Devlin/PA Wire
UK News

Ellie Butler murder: Christian mother guilty of cruelty

"Evil" father Ben Butler is facing life behind bars for killing his six-year-old daughter in a fit of rage - 11 months after winning her back in a high-profile custody battle.

Jobless Butler, 36, inflicted horrific head injuries on Ellie while left home alone to look after her and her younger sibling in October 2013.

Following an Old Bailey trial, he was found guilty of murder and child cruelty and jailed for a minimum of 23 years.

PA Wire
Ellie Butler with her mother Jennie Gray
PA Wire

His partner, Jennie Gray, 36, was convicted of child cruelty, having already admitted perverting the course of justice and covering up the murder. She was jailed for three and a half years.

She had previously told the jury whilst giving evidence about the child's death: "I swore on the Bible and I'm a Christian and I would not do that lightly."

As she was told the verdict she mumbled: "Big mistake, big mistake, big mistake."

The trial heard that Butler battered his daughter to death in a momentary but volcanic loss of temper.

He put off dialling 999 for two hours and instead summoned Gray back from work in the City of London.

PA Wire
Ellie Butler with her father Ben
Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire
Court artist sketch of Jennie Gray and Ben Butler in the dock

The pair concocted an elaborate plot to destroy evidence and stage the scene of an accidental fall before alerting the ambulance service.

In the chaotic call, Gray screamed and shouted at the operator and carried out CPR, despite knowing her daughter was dead.

The couple even involved Ellie's younger sibling by sending the child into her room on the pretext of fetching her for cake, jurors were told. The child can be heard on the 999 call saying Ellie "won't wake up".

The killing came months after the children were returned to their parents following accusations that Butler violently shook Ellie when she was seven weeks old.

Butler, of Sutton, south London, had been found guilty of assaulting Ellie in 2007 but this was quashed on appeal.

Anthony Devlin/PA Wire
PA Wire

The jury was shown a stream of expletive-ridden text messages which showed Butler as abusive and violent towards his partner and constantly on the brink of exploding at the children.

Butler texted that he was "about to flip" and called Gray a "dog whore" and "bitch" on numerous occasions in 2013.

In secret diary entries, Gray described being kneed in her genitals and "badly hurt" by her partner.

She also searched the internet for "urgent spells" to make Butler stop hurting her and love her again, the court heard.

Gray admitted attempting to cover up for her partner but said it was only to protect an "innocent man".

She denied "sacrificing" Ellie's well-being for the sake of her relationship, and putting Butler first above her children.

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