Bulletin: Ben Butler: U.K. On-going trial: Accused of killing his daughter, the Court has heard evidence that he beat his partner during her miscarriage; "On Tuesday, the jury at the Old Bailey was shown a series of abusive texts sent to Gray while she was in hospital recovering from injuries sustained during the alleged beating. As part of the agreed facts, the jury also heard that Butler had several previous convictions, including one for punching a man in a kebab shop and another for assaulting a former girlfriend. The alleged beating of Gray happened on 15 March 2013, just seven months before the couple’s daughter was found with “catastrophic” and fatal injuries at his home. Ellie had a fractured skull similar to that sustained in a high-speed car crash and a postmortem examination showed her shoulder had been broken weeks before." The Guardian;

"A man charged with murdering his six-year-old daughter in a fit of rage was accused of beating up his partner when she was miscarrying another baby, a court has heard. Ben Butler, 36, is on trial for the murder of Ellie Butler on 28 October 2013 when he was alone at home with her and another child. Butler and his partner, Jennie Gray, also 36, are jointly charged with child cruelty over an untreated broken shoulder the girl sustained weeks before her death.  On Tuesday, the jury at the Old Bailey was shown a series of abusive texts sent to Gray while she was in hospital recovering from injuries sustained during the alleged beating.  As part of the agreed facts, the jury also heard that Butler had several previous convictions, including one for punching a man in a kebab shop and another for assaulting a former girlfriend. The alleged beating of Gray happened on 15 March 2013, just seven months before the couple’s daughter was found with “catastrophic” and fatal injuries at his home. Ellie had a fractured skull similar to that sustained in a high-speed car crash and a postmortem examination showed her shoulder had been broken weeks before. The court heard how, in January 2013, the relationship was on the brink of collapse, with Butler threatening to walk out because he couldn’t stand Gray’s looks, her mouth, her weight and was fed up with his childcare responsibilities. The jury was told Butler sent text messages to Gray, who was pregnant, telling her he was disgusted and had had “enough of your weight and looks”. “You whacked on a massive [amount]. No baby,” he said. In further text messages, Gray described having a “fucked abortion” and losing a baby boy. Butler warned her not to get pregnant again with a string of texts raging about looking after Ellie. The jury saw 16 pages of texts which showed how, two months later, the “toxic relationship” had descended into violence."

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/10/man-accused-of-killing-daughter-beat-partner-during-miscarriage-trial-told