Ben Butler has lodged an appeal after being convicted of murdering his six-year-old daughter Ellie, judges have been told.

Butler's lawyers said he is appealing against his conviction and sentence, three Court of Appeal judges heard on Friday.

He was convicted last month of murdering Ellie at their home in Westover Close, Belmont, in October 2013, and was jailed for a minimum of 23 years.

Ellie's maternal grandfather told the Sutton Guardian he was unsurprised to learn that "cocky" Butler had appealed.

Neal Gray, 70, of Royston Avenue, Wallington, said: "I don’t think it should be allowed, but I know he has the right to and is in full accordance with the law. I don’t think he’s got any new evidence.

“It’s a surprise and it’s not a surprise, he’s a cocky person and he’ll think that he’ll get away from his conviction. The evidence put to him will be some fabrication in his mind."

Ellie's mother, Jennie Gray, was given a 42-month term after being found guilty of child cruelty, and admitting perverting the course of justice.

After a jury returned guilty verdicts following the couple's trial at the Old Bailey, Butler shouted in court: "You can sentence me now so I can fight in the appeal court and prove this wrong. I will fight forever to prove this wrong."

In 2009 Butler was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to Ellie by shaking her when she was a baby two years earlier.

But his conviction was overturned on appeal and in 2012 he won back custody of his daughter despite the protest of Sutton Council social workers.

Detail of Butler's latest appeal emerged at a Court of Appeal hearing in London this morning.

The three appeal judges are considering whether another family court judge's behind-closed-doors ruling which relates to Ellie's murder should be made public.

The ruling was made by Mrs Justice Eleanor King following a behind-closed-doors hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London in the summer of 2014 - after Ellie had died, but before her father had been convicted of murder.

Another family court judge has decided that Mrs Justice King's ruling should not be published in case reporting prejudices any re-trial if Butler mounts an appeal.

A number of family court judges - including two High Court judges based in the Family Division of the High Court in London - had overseen private hearings about Ellie.

The little girl had been placed in the care of her grandparents after Butler was accused of shaking her when she was a baby.

But she was returned to the care of Butler - and her mother - following a ruling by Mrs Justice Hogg in 2012. Eleven months later she was dead.

A coroner will hold a review hearing on Thursday next week to consider whether to take the unusual step of re-opening an inquest into Ellie's death following her father's murder conviction.

Inquests are not typically resumed after someone has been convicted of causing a person's death in a criminal trial.

But Ellie's grandfather has been pushing for a public inquiry to examine Mrs Justice Hogg's decision to return the little girl to the custody of her parents and prevent Sutton Council from playing any role in her care.

Mr Neal said today: “I think it will be a case that we will have to take each day as it comes and we will just have to see what the coroner’s court has to say and pay caution to the wind."