‘Itwasacomplexcase’

Mrs Justice Hogg faced criticism over her handling of the trial and a serious case review found her decision to send Ellie back to her parents’ care in 2012 hindered authorities from intervening and potentially saving Ellie’s life. Last week, she refused to apologise, saying: “It’s not personal.”

Chris Fairhurst, solicitor and family law specialist at Stephensons, says: “This was a complex case and it’s always difficult for the Family Court to balance what parents believe are their “rights” alongside the welfare of a child, which is the Court’s main concern. Ultimately the safety of the child will always come first but courts will try to ensure that children are returned to parents if safe to do so.

“While we cannot be sure, Mrs Justice Hogg is likely to have been told by Butler’s legal team that the medical evidence was not sufficient to keep Ellie from him. Also, Butler’s successful appeal in June 2010 – and his insistence that he had not spent time with Ellie for five years – may have worked in his favour. Although Butler presented himself as a doting father, it’s unlikely an experienced judge such as Justice Hogg would have been charmed by him, instead relying on the evidence put before her, including a report from independent social workers.” and have needed reassurance that he was ‘number one’ – if he felt he wasn’t, this would be dangerous for her and Ellie. Consequently she’d have been desperate for Ellie to ‘behave’ so that he didn’t get aggressive, and she’d start to think Butler’s rages were Ellie’s fault, because Butler would have said her ‘bad behaviour’ was to blame.

“The level of Butler’s control was so severe, that even during the court case he would have been able to manipulate Gray. She will probably have been in denial about what Butler was capable of, but now she’s out of his grasp, the reality of what has happened may hit her – and she’ll have to live with what she’s done.”