STORY: ""'His bark is worse than his bite': Mother accused of covering up the death of her daughter, 6, defends father on trial for killing her and claims he was 'completely devoted to the little girl,' by reporter Stephanie Linning, published by The Daily Mail on May 23, 2016.
SUB-HEADINGS: "Ben Butler, 36, is accused of murdering daughter Ellie in October 2013. His partner Jennie Gray, 36, today gave evidence at the Old Bailey. She said Butler was 'completely devoted' to their six-year-old daughter. Gray told the jury: 'If I thought he hurt my daughter and thought my daughter wasn't here because of him, I wouldn't be here today.' Butler and Gray deny child abuse and Butler denies murder. Trial continues."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Prosecutors allege Jennie Gray returned to their family home to help Ben Butler cover up the murder of their daughter (pictured together), who experts said had been left with injuries normally seen in car crash victims."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Six-year-old Ellie, pictured left, was left with catastrophic head injuries while at home with her father. Pictured right, mother Jennie Gray arriving at the Old Bailey today. She denies child cruelty."
PHOTO CAPTION: "He helped me survive': Gray, pictured in a court sketch, told the jury how Butler had supported her when Ellie was taken into care."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Tragic: Six-year-old Ellie, pictured left, was left with catastrophic head injuries while at home with her father. Pictured right, mother Jennie Gray arriving at the Old Bailey today. She denies child cruelty."
PHOTO CAPTION: "'Bark was worse than his bite': Gray said Butler, pictured, had never been violent towards her. She continued: 'Had anybody listened to me and believed what I said, I don't believe half of this would have happened.'"
GIST: A man accused of battering to death his six-year-old daughter was a 'completely devoted' father, his partner has told a jury. Jennie
Gray, 36, told the court that Ben Butler was an 'amazing' father to
their daughter, Ellie, who she described as a 'daddy's girl'. Giving
evidence at the Old Bailey today, she denied the characterisation of
her partner as a violent man constantly on the brink of losing his
temper, claiming 'his bark is definitely worse than his bite'. Gray
added that Butler had 'helped her survive' when Ellie was taken into
foster care after being rushed to hospital with head injuries in 2007. Gray,
a graphic designer, was at work in the City of London when her partner
Ben Butler allegedly attacked daughter Ellie at their home in Sutton,
south London, causing catastrophic head injuries. She
is said to have immediately left her office and rushed home to help
Butler cover up the murder of Ellie, who experts said had been left with
injuries normally seen in car crash victims. Butler,
a former car salesman, has claimed his daughter died due to a fall she
had while playing on the stairs with her new puppy two weeks earlier. He
denies murdering Ellie, but accepts her death was probably his fault
because he failed to take her to hospital after the alleged fall. The
prosecution has cited a stream of abusive text messages Butler sent to
Gray in the months before the killing, portraying him as a violent man. But Gray insisted she was not afraid of Butler and never saw him use violence towards his daughter. She told the jury: 'All you're hearing is this horror story like our house is a house of horrors and it's just not true. 'If
I thought he hurt my daughter and thought my daughter wasn't here
because of him, I wouldn't be here today. I would never, ever allow
someone to do anything to my child.'......... Gray
sobbed as she told the jury: 'I remember walking out of that door, the
foster carer holding Ellie and her head turned and Ellie watched me walk
out of the door.
'I fell on the front driveway because they wouldn't let me take my baby home and it took me a while to get up off that floor. 'The social worker just sat in the car and didn't care. She wasn't even human. The foster carer had tears in her eyes.' Gray told how she fell apart after losing her daughter and turned to drink 'because my heart was so broken'. 'I
remember Ben picking me up off the floor one time and said: "Please get
up, please survive. We will get your little girl back". Ben helped me,
he helped me survive.' The jury has heard Butler was convicted of shaking Ellie, but was cleared on appeal. He
and Gray won a long custody battle and Ellie was returned to their home
in Sutton, south-west London, in November 2012, 11 months before her
death. Their relationship was strained from January 2013, when Gray had an abortion after falling pregnant again. She claimed she was warned by independent social workers she risked losing Ellie if she had another child. Butler
denies murder and cruelty over Ellie's untreated broken shoulder. Gray,
36, denies child cruelty but has admitted perverting the course of
justice. The trial continues.
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3604474/Father-accused-killing-Ellie-Butler-violent-rage-completely-devoted-daughter-mother-tells-court.html
See 'Mirror' story at the link below; "Ben Butler murder trial: Haunting video shows Ellie Butler playing with dad accused of murdering her: The footage was filmed in the months leading up to six-year-old Ellie Butler's alleged murder at the hands of 36-year-old Ben Butler."... Most of the footage was filmed by her mother Jennie Gray, 36, and show days out in the park, a school sports day, and a birthday party. In one clip, Butler is holding Ellie in a computer games arcade as she points a toy gun at the screen. The family are also seen on Christmas morning with Ellie dressed in an angel costume opening her presents. Gray smiled from the witness box as the compilation was played in court then became emotional and sobbed as the recording went on... Butler, watching the screen through the bullet-proof glass dock, smiled as the video started but later wiped tears from his eyes. Gray described them as a 'normal' family who went on days out, and had friends and family over to their home. But she admitted suffering bouts of depression and sometimes turning to drink. "I'm not here trying to speak for Ben. I'm not here trying to stick up for Ben or to defend him," said Gray. "There's lots of things I don't like about Ben but he kept our family going when I couldn't when I wasn't strong enough." Prosecutors say he was always teetering on the edge of losing his temper and used violence to control his partner in their home in Sutton, southwest London."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-butler-murder-trial-haunting-8034929
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The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
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Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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