Ben Butler trial: Father sentenced to life in prison for murder of six-year-old daughter Ellie Butler

Butler's partner Jennie Gray, who helped him stage an elaborate cover-up, was given a total of 42 months

Ellie Butler with her father Ben, who has been found guilty of her murder (PA)

Ben Butler has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his six-year-old daughter Ellie.

The 36-year-old father inflicted horrific injuries on Ellie when he was left alone to look after her and her younger sibling, just 11 months after winning the children back in a high-profile custody case.

Butler's partner Jennie Gray, who helped him stage an elaborate cover-up, was given a total of 42 months for child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.

The couple angrily protested their innocence when jurors returned their verdicts on the third day of deliberations.

Gray told them they had made a "big mistake", while Butler shouted angrily that he would "fight forever" and appeal against their decision.

Butler was described as "pure evil" by a former partner whose witness statement was not read to the jury, but can now be reported.

And it can now be revealed that in 2014, a High Court judge had already ruled that Butler killed Ellie during a hearing to consider the future of the younger child.

The trial heard how Butler battered his daughter to death in a momentary but volcanic loss of temper.

On 28 October 2013, the father inflicted catastrophic head injuries on Ellie and then shut the door on her as she lay dead or dying on the floor of her bedroom, the court heard.

Butler claimed Ellie cracked her skull by tripping on the stairs while playing with the puppy more than two weeks before her death.

But medical experts for the prosecution said she had at least one blunt force impact from being thrown against a wall or struck with a heavy blunt weapon.

Her severe head injuries were compared to those of a high-speed road crash victim.

Butler put off dialling 999 for two hours and instead summoned Gray back from work in the City of London.

The pair concocted an elaborate plot to destroy evidence and stage the scene of an accidental fall before alerting the ambulance service.

In the chaotic call, former EastEnders actress Gray screamed and shouted at the operator and carried out CPR, despite knowing her daughter was dead.

The couple even involved Ellie's younger sibling by sending the child into her room on the pretext of fetching her for cake, jurors were told. The child can be heard on the 999 call saying Ellie "won't wake up".

The killing came months after the children were returned to their parents following accusations that Butler violently shook Ellie when she was seven weeks old. Butler will serve a minimum of 23 years in prison.

Additional reporting by PA