Life jail for man who killed 6 year-old daughter

- She had significant fractures to her skull that stretched almost the entire length of her head. Her injuries were likened to those caused in a high-speed car crash.

- She had significant fractures to her skull that stretched almost the entire length of her head. Her injuries were likened to those caused in a high-speed car crash.

A man who killed his six-year-old daughter in a fit of rage has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

36 year-old Ben Butler of Westcover Close in Sutton, will serve a minimum of 23 years after he was found guilty at the Old Bailey of the murder of Ellie Butler. He was also convicted of one count of child cruelty.

Ellie's mother, Jennie Gray, also 36 years-old, of the same address, was also found guilty of child cruelty and was sentenced to a total of 42 months imprisonment.

Gray pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing.

Ellie died on 28 October 2013 as a result of significant fractures to her skull that stretched almost the entire length of her head. Her injuries were likened to those caused in a high-speed car crash.

A post-mortem examination also established that Ellie had suffered a broken shoulder in the weeks prior to her death, but no medical treatment had been sought. She also had bruises consistent with being gripped around her jaw and underlying eye and brain injuries.

On the day of the murder, Gray, a graphic designer, was at work in the City of London when Butler caused the catastrophic injuries to Ellie at their family home.

At 12:46hrs, following a call and text messages from Butler, she immediately left her office and rushed home in a taxi. At the address, the pair proceeded to cover up Ellie’s murder by staging a scene to make it look like Ellie had fallen off a small chair.

Butler dumped clothing, letters and diary entries in communal bins away from their house. Gray changed and washed the shirt she had been wearing when she got home.

At 14:46hrs, some two hours after Gray left her office, the couple made a dramatic 999 call, claiming they had found Ellie unconscious on the floor of her bedroom. They performed CPR as directed by the emergency services call handler. Paramedics arrived and Ellie was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, where she was pronounced dead at 16:01hrs.

At the hospital, Ellie was found to have no open wounds but a large soft swelling at the back of her head. Butler and Gray were spoken to by medics and subsequently a detective at the hospital, where they repeated the version of events they had previously given.

Butler was arrested on suspicion of murder at the hospital later that evening. Gray was interviewed the following day as a significant witness where she lied, saying she had left work early because it was quiet and when she got home she heard Ellie was playing in her room. Gray explained in detail how she and Butler found Ellie on the floor of her room after she failed to respond to their calls to come down and eat cake.

A murder investigation was launched by detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command (HMCC), which established that Gray’s version of events leading to her leaving work were untrue. Investigating officers seized and watched nearly 150 hours of CCTV, which included footage of Gray frantically leaving her office and flagging down a taxi. Gray was arrested in November 2013.

Both Butler and Gray made no comment during their police interviews but admitted in court to destroying evidence and lying to police. Both cited Butler’s previous conviction for assaulting Ellie as a baby in 2007, which was later overturned in the court of appeal, as the reason why they had lied.

The court heard that Ellie was taken into care after Butler was convicted and jailed for allegedly shaking her in 2007 when she was seven weeks old. In 2010, Butler’s conviction was overturned on appeal and he and Gray then went to the High Court to seek Ellie’s return, with the child going back to her parents on 9 November 2012.  

Detective Inspector Dave Reid, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “There is no doubt that Ben Butler is a man with a ferocious temper and a short fuse. This was clear from the evidence we gathered during our investigation that showed how his volatile personality dominated family life.

“He regularly teetered on the verge of a violent outburst and displayed extreme contempt for his partner Jennie Gray, who despite this put him before everything and anyone - even six-year-old Ellie.

“Butler’s actions following Ellie’s death were those of a man only acting to save himself. Having caused Ellie’s injuries in a violent rage and whilst she lay dead or dying, he didn’t call for an ambulance but instead called Gray, whom he knew would rush home and do whatever it took in order to protect him.

“Butler and Gray then set about orchestrating a set of lies to blame everyone but themselves for Ellie’s murder and the events leading up to it. They lied throughout the investigation and continued making outlandish accusations against a variety of people and organisations throughout their trial at the Old Bailey.

“However, investigating Ellie’s murder and tragic story meant detectives gathered a huge amount of harrowing evidence that proved Butler did indeed kill Ellie and Gray helped him cover it up. Whilst their convictions will bring little comfort to Ellie’s beloved grandparents with whom she lived for the majority of her short life or to all those who loved her, I hope they will go some little way to assuring them justice has now been achieved.”

London's Metropolitan Police published an Impact Statement of Ellie's grandparents, Neal and the late Linda Gray. The statement was taken whilst Mrs Gray was alive. She subsequently passed away during the trial:

"To say that Ellie's death has caused complete and utter devastation to us, our family and to all those who loved her does not even begin to describe the feelings that we have had day and night constantly since her death. 

Our lives have changed so dramatically due to the impact and shock and horror of this event that we struggle every day to deal with the reality of the death of our dear granddaughter Ellie. She was our shining light.

"When we were told the news of Ellie's death it was a very raw feeling then and it remains so today and will do so forever more. Ellie was a very beautiful, bubbly and intelligent little girl who always had a smile on her face and even at such a young age she was nobody's fool. She was our life and she gave so much pleasure to us and our family too, how we all miss her. 

"The devastation this has caused to us and our family does not get any better as each day passes and we do not think we will ever recover from it. It affects our everyday lives and there is not a day that goes by when we do not think of Ellie, we think of her all the time. She was so special to us and to all our family, friends and people in the community who knew her. Local people, some of whom we did not even know, came to express their sadness upon hearing of her death and we received over a hundred messages of sympathy. This gave us great comfort in our time of mourning. Ellie had many friends in school and the community all of whom were totally grief-stricken.

"Ellie enjoyed doing many after school activities and her death means that we will miss out on her growing up, completing her education, maybe going to university, getting married and having her own children. All of this joy has been taken away from us; her grandparents.

"Our family was so close to Ellie and played a great part in much of her life. We have all been left with a great void in our lives as a result of what has happened. This has caused untold stress, sleepless nights and has been detrimental to my wife's current ill health.

"We have difficulty facing people and people have difficulty facing us and visiting our home. It affects our everyday lives. It was such a great privilege and pleasure to have been Ellie's grandparents and to be able to have loved her in her short life. This goes for our family and friends too. We did not realise that some people could be so wicked in life. 

"Our beautiful granddaughter Ellie, we all miss her very, very, much, more than any words can express. Life will never be the same for us again."