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| Ellie Butler inquest: Agencies 'did not contribute to girl's death' | Ellie Butler inquest: Agencies 'did not contribute to girl's death' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Failings by agencies over the care of a six-year-old girl who was murdered by her father did not contribute to her death, a coroner has ruled. | Failings by agencies over the care of a six-year-old girl who was murdered by her father did not contribute to her death, a coroner has ruled. |
| Ellie Butler was battered to death by her father Ben Butler in October 2013, 11 months after being returned to his care at the family's south London home. | Ellie Butler was battered to death by her father Ben Butler in October 2013, 11 months after being returned to his care at the family's south London home. |
| Butler, who was accused of shaking Ellie as baby, was jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years for her murder. | |
| The coroner, Dame Linda Dobbs, ruled that Ellie was unlawfully killed. | The coroner, Dame Linda Dobbs, ruled that Ellie was unlawfully killed. |
| Concluding the inquest at South London Coroner's Court, she added: "On the evidence I am unable to conclude that any acts or omissions by the relevant agencies possibly or probably contributed to the death of Ellie." | Concluding the inquest at South London Coroner's Court, she added: "On the evidence I am unable to conclude that any acts or omissions by the relevant agencies possibly or probably contributed to the death of Ellie." |
| Dame Linda said it was "unclear" if all recommendations from a Serious Case Review into Ellie's death "have been implemented and audited". | |
| The review found Sutton Children Services felt "powerless to act" following the High Court's ruling which led to Ellie returning to her parents. | |
| Butler was convicted of Ellie's murder after a trial in June 2016. Ellie's mother Jennie Gray was also jailed for three and a half years for child cruelty and attempting to pervert the course of justice. | |
| Ellie had been placed into the care of her grandparents Neal and Linda Gray when she was a baby after Butler was accused of shaking her. | |
| He successfully appealed and Mrs Justice Hogg in the family division of the High Court ruled that Ellie's parents had been "exonerated" of causing her injuries and she was returned to their home in Sutton in July 2012. | |
| Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Gray said his granddaughter's murder at the hands of a "brutal maniac" had been "avoidable". | |
| "[Ellie] was placed at fatal risk by being returned to her parents. The circumstances surrounding it must be avoided so that lessons may be learned and other children protected in the future", he said. | |
| Timeline of events leading up to Ellie's death |