Child protection professionals ‘paralysed’ after judge gave ‘all power’ to murderous father

A family court judge handed “all the power” to murderous Ben Butler when she decided he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice over a claim he had shaken his daughter as a baby, a serious case review has found.

Mrs Justice Hogg took the “unprecedented” step of ordering Sutton Council to send letters to up to 40 education, child protection, police and health bodies, stressing that Butler was innocent after she decided that his daughter Ellie should be returned to his care in November 2012.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in March 2009 for shaking Ellie as a baby two years previously. But in 2010 his conviction was quashed, as appeal judges could not rule out an unknown cause for her injuries.

Less than a year after Ellie was placed back in her father’s care, following a catalogue of violent abuse including a broken shoulder that went untreated for a month, he murdered the six-year-old.

Marion Davis, author of the serious case review on the run-up to Ellie’s death, now plans to write to the President of the Family Division of the High Court and the Family Justice Council to ask for answers over the case as a “concern of national interest”.

Speaking on Tuesday as the review was published, chairwoman of the Sutton Safeguarding Children Board Christine Davies said Mrs Justice Hogg’s decision over the letters, and to appoint private firm Services for Children to deal with the case, tied child protection workers’ hands.

She said: “We are all deeply saddened by the death of Ellie Butler. The death of any child is always tragic but more so in these circumstances. Ellie was harmed by her parents, the very people who were supposed to protect her and keep her safe.

“The Family Court’s decision to exonerate Ben Butler of harming Ellie in 2007, combined with its subsequent order for agencies to be sent a letter to that effect, had a very significant impact on how agencies could protect his children from that point in time onwards.

“Ben Butler’s exoneration and the judge’s statement about him being a victim of a miscarriage of justice had the effect of handing all the power to the parents.

“This coupled with the assessment made by Services for Children to support Ellie and her sibling to be cared for by their parents were critical factors.”

The serious case review highlighted “the extreme level of avoidance, deception and resistance from the parents, who were often evasive, contradictory and aggressive and who regularly resorted to complaints and threats.”

It found that Butler and Ellie’s mother, Jennie Gray, continued to behave in this hostile way even after Ellie and her younger sibling were returned to their care, and used the exoneration letter to deflect attention from concerned child protection workers.

The letter effectively meant that Butler’s history of violence against partners, and injuries that Ellie had suffered as a child, could not be taken into account, and therefore the conditions to use child protection systems to save her could not be met.

Marion Davis said: “Once the High Court had made those orders, laid down those constraints, it was very difficult for any actions that agencies could have taken to have prevented this sad outcome.

“It almost had a paralysing or disempowering effect on the professionals who would normally have come together and worked together, and in fact those very agencies who had done that earlier in the children’s lives.”

Mrs Justice Hogg has refused to comment on the case, in line with a convention that judges do not comment on cases outside court.

Ms Davies said: “The criminal court squashed Ben Butler’s previous conviction as not beyond all reasonable doubt because of new medical evidence, that is understandable.

“But the Family Court through Justice Hogg went very much further than that level of understanding, because she chose to exonerate Ben Butler for any responsibility for Ellie’s injuries.

“And (said) that he had been subject of a miscarriage of justice and then took an unprecedented step, in our experience, of writing a letter to all public agencies and services essentially saying that he was innocent of Ellie’s injuries and that he was subject to a miscarriage of justice and that they were to strike their records clean.

“And also put in the order that Ben Butler himself could use that letter which he and Jennie Gray sadly did on numerous occasions when any service or agency raised questions about their behaviour. Essentially, all the power was passed to the parents and put services and agencies at a distance.”

No agencies involved in the case have been criticised for their involvement with Ellie. In fact, the review highlighted some “good examples” of them sharing information and raising concerns.

Alex Clark, headteacher of Avenue Primary Academy in Sutton which Ellie attended for 10 months before she died, said: “During the time we knew her, we had concerns about the family, particularly from the start of the new term in September 2013.

“As they were new parents, we offered them support when Ellie started school in January 2013 but they simply did not want it. There were also periods of missed attendance. When we approached the parents for an explanation they gave excuses such as illness and family holiday.

“We did set up meetings with the parents in relation to Ellie’s attendance, but they often cancelled at the last minute or they did not attend. We told the parents that we would need a doctor’s note to explain any future absence.

“Generally, they were very difficult to work with. When we asked questions they sometimes became angry and defensive and on two occasions Jennie Gray made reference to her solicitor.

“We are all deeply saddened by what happened and our concern now is to ensure that the school community can recover from the terrible loss of Ellie.”

He said the artistic youngster was happy at school.

“Ellie was happy at school. She was gentle and thoughtful. Ellie loved art, drawing and doodling. She enjoyed talking to staff, worked well with everyone and had some lovely friends.

“She was only at our school for 10 months but left a lasting impression. The shock of her death has affected the whole school community and we have relived the experience through the recent court case.”

Services for Children (S4C) stressed that letters from Butler’s team would not have hindered their work in passing on concerns and following safeguarding procedure.

A spokeswoman said: “On the 30th October S4C became aware of the tragic death of Ellie. S4C were contacted by Sutton Borough Council’s safeguarding board regarding the Serious Case Review and have inputted into that process with a report and an interview.

“Since Ellie’s death and throughout the recent trial we have often thought of the impact of Ellie’s death on members of her family. We recognise the sorrow they must have experienced in the time that has elapsed.”

Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England, said: “This was a deeply tragic and troubling sequence of events in which this little girl deserved much better.

“I’m concerned that all the circumstances in this family – which included violence, aggression and habitual evasion of any engagement with local services – may not have been fully considered when custody was awarded, despite custody being objected to by local children’s services, the police and Ellie’s grandparents.

“There remains a number of unanswered questions regarding this judgment. The role of the judiciary and their involvement in providing information to serious case reviews needs to be looked at as part of ongoing reform.”

_{Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2016, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Martin Keene / PA Wire.}