Butler inquest will not review return to father

A High Court judge who returned a girl to her father who later murdered her will not be “tried” at her inquest, the hearing was told.

The decision at the Family Court by Mrs Justice Hogg to put Ellie Butler, six, back in the care of her father Ben Butler after he was accused of shaking her will not be reviewed, said Adam Wiseman QC, counsel to the inquest.

Ellie was battered to death by her father at their home in Sutton, south London, in 2013. Butler was convicted of her murder in 2016, and jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years. Ellie’s mother, Jennie Gray, was found guilty of child cruelty.

Proceedings will resume today.