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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Ben Butler guilty of murdering daughter Ellie | Ben Butler guilty of murdering daughter Ellie |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has been found guilty of murdering his six-year-old daughter just 11 months after she was returned to his care following a custody battle. | A man has been found guilty of murdering his six-year-old daughter just 11 months after she was returned to his care following a custody battle. |
| Ben Butler, 36, inflicted catastrophic head injuries to Ellie while looking after her at their home in Sutton, south-west London, in October 2013. | Ben Butler, 36, inflicted catastrophic head injuries to Ellie while looking after her at their home in Sutton, south-west London, in October 2013. |
| At the Old Bailey, Ellie's mother, Jennie Gray, 36, had admitted perverting the course of justice. | At the Old Bailey, Ellie's mother, Jennie Gray, 36, had admitted perverting the course of justice. |
| Both were found guilty of child cruelty in relation to a shoulder injury. | Both were found guilty of child cruelty in relation to a shoulder injury. |
| The exonerated father who went on to kill | |
| Following the verdict, Butler shouted out: "I'll fight for the rest of my life - unbelievable," before adding: "I want to be sentenced now so I can fight in the Appeal Court." | Following the verdict, Butler shouted out: "I'll fight for the rest of my life - unbelievable," before adding: "I want to be sentenced now so I can fight in the Appeal Court." |
| He added: "I will fight forever to prove this wrong. My daughter was jumping in the house. I'm 100% not guilty." | He added: "I will fight forever to prove this wrong. My daughter was jumping in the house. I'm 100% not guilty." |
| He will be sentenced at 12:30 BST. | He will be sentenced at 12:30 BST. |
| Gray said: "Big mistake. Spend another 10 years proving you wrong." | Gray said: "Big mistake. Spend another 10 years proving you wrong." |
| Butler was previously convicted for shaking Ellie as a baby, although this was later quashed on appeal. | Butler was previously convicted for shaking Ellie as a baby, although this was later quashed on appeal. |
| The couple then won a High Court judgement to have Ellie returned to their care in 2012. | The couple then won a High Court judgement to have Ellie returned to their care in 2012. |
| Mrs Justice Hogg had sided with Butler despite objections from police, social services and Ellie's maternal grandfather, Neal Gray. | |
| At the time, Mr Gray - who had cared for Ellie since she was a baby - had allegedly warned the judge she would have "blood on your hands". | |
| Jurors were told that Butler battered his daughter to death in a volcanic loss of temper. | |
| He did not call 999 for two hours and instead called Jennie Gray back from work in the City of London. | |
| They then concocted an elaborate plot to destroy evidence and stage the scene of an accidental fall before alerting the ambulance service. | |
| 'Won't wake up' | |
| The couple even involved Ellie's younger sibling by sending the child into a room on the pretext of fetching Ellie for cake, jurors were told. | |
| The child can be heard on the 999 call saying Ellie "won't wake up". | |
| Malcolm McHaffie, CPS London Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: "Ellie Butler was murdered in her home, where she should have felt safe, by her violent father who should have loved and protected her." | |
| He added: "We may never know exactly what happened in the last few hours of Ellie's life, but the CPS built a strong case to show that her death was the result of deliberate violence by Butler." |