How skilled liar Ben Butler convinced the world he was a doting dad
Evil Butler was a psychopath who managed to persuade a highly experienced legal team and a Court of Appeals judge of his innocence
HIS voice never wavered, his gaze never faltered.
Ben Butler told me again and again: “I am innocent, totally innocent.
"My life has been ruined, my family torn away from me.
“I am so glad we are back together again.”
I fell for every word. To me Butler seemed a loyal, loving father to whom a terrible wrong had been done, he was compelling in his protestations of innocence.
In fact I felt sorry for him as he told me how he had to serve his time on the 'nonces wing' adding "It was hideous, being in with men that had done unspeakable things to children."
Found guilty in 2009 of shaking six-week old baby Ellie so violently that she nearly died, he had won an appeal against the conviction in 2010.
Now he was holding court in the offices of disgraced PR Max Clifford.
He was earnest, convincing and seemingly totally besotted by Gray and their children.
I now know that every word he spoke that day was a lie.
In fact Butler, 36, was a hideous monster who would go on to kill poor innocent Ellie.
His vicious temper snapped while he was looking after her and he launched a horrific attack, leaving her so battered doctors said her injuries were consistent with a road accident.
The day I heard he had been arrested for killing Ellie, a beautiful cherub faced little girl, less than a year after winning her back I burst into tears.
I felt sick and above all guilty for falling for his lies.
But like many psychopaths he was a skilled liar, he had managed to convince a highly experienced legal team and a Court of Appeals judge of his innocence.
In fact the judge had called his case a ‘gross miscarriage of justice.’
Sentenced in March 2009 at Croydon Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment for causing GBH with intent he had the conviction overturned in June 2010 after new medical evidence showed Ellie’s injuries were the result of a traumatic birth.
When we met, Butler was being hailed as a ‘hero’ by other families of people battling to overturn wrong convictions, featuring on numerous ‘justice for the innocent’ websites.
He wept as he told me how he had in fact tried to save Ellie’s life after she suddenly stopped breathing in February 2007 clearing her airways and rushing her to hospital.
Then to his ‘horror’ doctors had decided she was a victim of shaken baby syndrome and in his words ‘our nightmare began.’
After winning his appeal he and Gray had had to battle through the family courts for another two years to get their children back in October 2012.
I know now that Ellie’s grandparents, Gray's parents, had battled equally as hard to stop them.
In fact after our interview with Butler appeared they wrote to The Sun furious, complaining that we did not know the full facts and their fears that Ellie, who was then five, was in danger.
I can’t imagine how they feel now.
They knew the truth about Butler, that he was a violent bully.
But he had managed to fool legal experts and now sobbing he told me: “We should be over the moon.
"But my fear is we will never, ever be able to be a real family again.
“Ellie has been away from us for over five years.
“My fear is that although I’ve been cleared my family has been destroyed forever.”
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At the time Ellie’s injuries occurred, Gray and Butler were separated but according to him he was a doting day telling me urgently: “From the moment I saw her Ellie I fell in love. I just adored her and wanted to be hands-on dad. I saw her as much as I could, even having her overnight.”
Graphic designer Gray had no qualms about leaving him with their baby saying: “If anything he was an overprotective dad, he would text me things like, I think I’ve given her too much milk.”
Why they had split at the time they never revealed, but they had got back together AFTER Butler was accused of injuring Ellie.
In fact she refused to co-operate with police, or as Butler put it: “She wouldn’t go against me.”
As she wouldn’t testify against Butler, Ellie was taken into care eventually being given to Jennie’s parents to look after.
She was allowed to see her only six times a year, Butler twice. He told me angrily how he didn’t dare have Ellie’s photo in jail because “I had to serve my time on the nonces wing. It was hideous being in jail with men that had done unspeakable things to children.
“I never spoke a word to any of them the whole time. I couldn’t even have a photo of Ellie in there in case any of the paedos got off on it.”
Describing why she had stood by Butler, Gray - who it turned out was being brutally bullied by him - told me: “I know some people say I should have done that so I could have my child – but I couldn’t do that to Ben. It wasn’t right.”
During our interview they acted like loves’ young dream, giggling and kissing, holding hands.
She wiped away tears as he told how Ellie had suddenly ‘gone limp’ as she sat in her car seat on the floor as he looked after her saying “She was really white and making a funny noise, as if she was struggling to breathe.
“On the 999 tape you can me in blind panic giving her mouth to mouth and everything. Then at one stage I pushed my finger down her throat and she suddenly gasped and started breathing again. The gasp – it’s so loud you can even hear it on the 999 tape.2
This push down the throat was to prove crucial at Butler’s appeal.
Scans of Ellie’s head showed a cyst in her throat which his defence team claimed he had pushed out of the way.
As he told me proudly: “Instead of trying to kill her, I saved her life.”
The cyst scan had never been seen by the jury at his first trial.
He walked free.
He told me how he had rushed to see Ellie his voice breaking as he said: "She didn't even know who I was was - it was heart breaking."
Gray quickly became pregnant with their second child but scared that social services would take that baby away she registered with a doctor 60 miles away from home under a false name.
She said: "I kept the pregnancy a secret from everyone but when the baby was six months old someone tipped off social services.
"I was driving down a motorway and six police cars started chasing me.
"They pulled me over and arrested me on suspicion of child neglect.
"They wouldn't even let me say goodbye."
The baby went into care.
So Butler and Gray launched a legal battle to get their children back.
Butler told me: "I became an expert on shaken baby syndrome. There wasn't a case like ours ever. In all cases of shaken baby syndrome the baby had either died, or been brain damaged.Ellie was perfect."
The couple, then living in Sutton, Surrey, won their battle.
Mrs Justice Hogg at the High Court in London telling Butler and Gray - "It is a joy for me to oversee the return of a child to his parents."
I wonder how she felt when she learned Ellie was dead?
At the time of our interview Ellie was still living with her grandparents with her parents fearing they would never get her back permanently. A furious Butler told me: "My life Jennie's life, and the childrens' lives have been virtually destroyed.
Whatever chance we had of being a family was taken away."
Gray revealed: "At times I felt I couldn't go on, I just wanted to die but Ben kept me alive, He said we had to fight, fight, fight."
Sadly for Ellie the evil couple were victorious in their battle and the children returned to them.
Eleven months later Ellie was beaten to death by Butler the man who had once sobbed and wept as he told me "I wouldn't hurt a hair on her head, I love her."