A coroner has said she believes a public inquiry or inquest should be held into the murder of six-year-old Ellie Butler.

Selena Lynch, senior coroner for south London, held a preliminary hearing this afternoon to consider whether to investigate the circumstances surrounding the little girl’s death at the hands of her father in 2013.

Ben Butler was jailed for life last month for beating Ellie to death in a fit of rage at their home in Westover Close, Belmont, but last week it emerged he was appealing his conviction.

RELATED: Inquest into murdered Ellie Butler's death could be re-opened

At a hearing at Croydon Coroner’s Court, Ms Lynch said she believed a judge’s decision to return Ellie to the custody of her parents 11 months before she died, and the family’s involvement with social workers, merited an investigation.

But she said her hands were tied until Butler’s appeal had run its course.

Ms Lynch said: “I don't think I am in a position to make any order at the moment. We just have to wait now and see what happens in the criminal court.”

But she added: "I am mindful that the clock is ticking. It is not just the sibling suffering all of this, it is the wider family.”

Ellie's grandfather, Neal Gray, has urged for a public inquiry into a 2012 family court ruling by Mrs Justice Hogg, who allowed Ellie to return to her parents after Butler’s conviction for shaking her as a baby was overturned.

Speaking after today’s review hearing, the 70-year-old said: “I am really grateful to the coroner for having this meeting today.

"I am deeply concerned about the decisions made in the family court that led to Ellie being placed in such a dangerous situation.

"My aim is to get answers and make sure that lessons are learned so that this cannot happen to another child.”

Following Butler's conviction for murder, Sutton Safeguarding Children Board published a serious case review which found Mrs Justice Hogg’s decision left social services powerless to intervene to prevent Ellie's death.

A Sutton Council spokesman said: “We will fully cooperate with the course of action the coroner decides to take.

“We support the findings and recommendations of the independent serious case review carried out on behalf of Sutton's Safeguarding Children Board.”

Ms Lynch gave no indication of when she would decide whether to reopen the inquest, which would a highly unusual move for a case in which someone has been convicted of causing a person’s death.

But she stressed that the idea currently remained “premature”.