I’ll show I didn’t kill Ellie, vows dad serving life
A FATHER declared his innocence yesterday despite being jailed for life for murdering his little girl.
Ben Butler, 38, vowed to clear his name over the beating to death of daughter Ellie, six, at their family home in Sutton, south London, in 2013.
She had been returned to him a year earlier after he was jailed for shaking her violently when she was a baby.
At an Old Bailey trial two years ago, he was jailed again for a minimum of 23 years for inflicting catastrophic head injuries on Ellie.
Giving evidence to an inquest into her death via prison video link, Butler said he would appeal his conviction.
He told South London Coroner’s Court: “I do not accept the jury conviction of my murder. I did not cause Ellie to die or any injury. I believe I have some proof. This is far from over.”
Ellie suffered a series of injuries at his hands in the weeks before she died, including a broken shoulder.
Butler and Ellie’s mother Jennie Gray later tried to cover up the fatal beating in October 2013 by claiming that their daughter had died when she fell off a chair.
Gray, also 38, was jailed for 42 months after she was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Ellie was brought up by her grandparents Neil and Linda Gray after Butler was jailed for shaking her violently when she was seven weeks.
The conviction was later quashed and her parents launched a campaign to regain custody of Ellie. In 2012, Mrs Justice Hogg granted their wish, saying that Butler posed “no physical risk” to Ellie. She died next year. Her devoted grandfather told the inquest: “The day Ellie left us was heartbreaking. She had no idea what was going on.”
The inquest is examining if there were failures by authorities.
Social worker Steven Atherton said: “We were part of a system that failed this girl.”
The inquest continuing. is