Ben Butler, charged with murdering his daughter, accuses a pathologist of hiding evidence and cremating the child behind his back.
15:23, UK,Monday 09 May 2016
A father accused of battering his six-year-old daughter to death has stormed out of the dock.
Ben Butler, 36, is on trial charged with murdering Ellie Butler at their home in south London and trying to pass it off as an accident.
Emergency services found Ellie dead in her bedroom on 28 October, 2013.
She had suffered "catastrophic head injuries".
Butler's partner Jennie Gray, also 36, has admitted perverting the course of justice by hiding or destroying evidence and "acting out" the 999 call.
Both deny child cruelty charges over an earlier shoulder injury.
The pair began shouting from the dock at the Old Bailey on Monday while jurors were hearing evidence from pathologist Dr Andreas Marnerides, who Butler accused of cremating his daughter "behind our back".
When prosecutor Ed Brown QC asked the witness if Ellie's cremation was carried out in consultation with Butler's solicitors, the defendant shouted: "How dare you? You took samples and cremated her behind our back. You hid evidence. You hid evidence."
After he left the dock, his lawyer, Di Middleton, apologised to the court on his behalf: "It's a particularly sensitive subject. I can deal with it in the absence of the jury."
When Butler re-entered the dock, the judge told him: "I am perfectly happy for you to remain in court and I understand that some issues may be very sensitive for you, but you must try your best to restrain yourself."
The trial continues.
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