The tragic case of Ellie Butler

The recent traumatic and devastating case of Ellie Butler, a six year old girl who was murdered by her father is something I find very disturbing; particularly as the trial judge exonerated him from a previous offence of shaking and injuring her as a small baby, and then after spending most of her life in the tender care of her grandparents she was handed over to a man and woman she barely knew.  I work as a carer in children’s homes with kids some who have been physically and sexually abused, and at the moment I am working with a very challenging ten year old girl whose parents were nothing short of monsters; the abuse she and her nine siblings suffered at the hands of their parents is something that will probably scar them emotionally for the rest of their lives, and the thought of this poor girl being sent back to the very people who did such terrible things to her fills me with horror.  Yet this is exactly what happened to Ellie.  Her grandfather has been speaking in the media about it recently, of how he and his late wife fought tooth and nail to keep her with them, but were basically told they were interfering with judicial procedures and warned to back off.  At the end of her life when her grandfather last saw her, Ellie was covered in bruises and was withdrawn and quiet... a few days later she was dead, and Ellie’s own mother colluded to cover up the murder.  We are only carers, but the work we do is the stuff no one really hears about, and believe me life in a children’s home is nothing like Tracy Beaker.  We work for minimum wage with complex kids who for various reasons cannot be fostered or adopted, and sometimes I do feel their needs are not properly supported by the agencies and social workers who should have their best interests at heart... a point sadly proved by Ellie Butler’s tragic story.