Mother of Ellie Butler, 6, will appeal her sentence for the part she played in child’s brutal death
Jennie Gray, 36, was given a 42-month jail term
THE mother of Ellie Butler - the six-year-old murdered by her father - has launched a bid to challenge her conviction.
Ellie's mother, Jennie Gray, 36, was given a 42-month term after being found guilty of child cruelty - and admitting perverting the course of justice.
A spokesman for the Court of Appeal confirmed on Thursday that she has made a "late application" for permission to appeal in relation to both child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.
The normal time limit to lodge an appeal is 28 days after conviction. Anyone lodging after that deadline has to make representations as to why their application should be accepted "out of time" by the court.
But she was returned to the care of Butler - and her mother - following a ruling by Mrs Justice Hogg in 2012 in the Family Division of the High Court.
The Old Bailey trial heard that Butler battered his daughter to death at the family home in Sutton, south London, in a momentary but volcanic loss of temper after months of subjecting his partner and daughter to abuse.
But shocking details revealed how violent Butler regularly abused Ellie and even flushed her sibling’s head down the toilet.
Ellie’s sibling, named only as C to protect their identity, heartbreakingly referred to the family home as a “bad house” where “dad hits mum and makes her cry”.
Sickeningly, Butler was said to have flushed the second child’s head down the toilet if they wet the bed and even whacked C and Ellie with a belt as Gray watched.
C was even dragged into the twisted couple’s attempt to cover up Ellie’s murder.
"Angry" Butler, 36, was given a 23-year jail term.
Gray told them they had made a "big mistake", while Butler shouted that he would "fight forever" in the appeal courts.
It is understood that Butler has to date not made any late application to the Court of Appeal.