A coroner is considering whether to reopen an inquest into the death of murdered six-year-old Ellie Butler.

Selena Lynch, senior south London coroner, will review whether to re-examine the circumstances surround the little girl's killing at a hearing at Croydon Coroner's Court on Thursday.

Her father Ben Butler was jailed for life last month for beating Ellie to death his daughter in a fit of rage in their house in Westover Close, Belmont, in October 2013.

It is highly unusual for an inquest to be reopened after someone has been convicted of causing a person's death in a criminal trial.

But Neal Gray, Ellie's grandfather, has been pushing for a public inquiry into a judge's decision to hand back custody of the little girl to Ben Butler 11 months before he killed her.

Following Butler's conviction for murder, Sutton Safeguarding Children's Board published a serious case review which found Mrs Justice Hogg's 2012 left social services powerless to intervene to prevent Ellie's death.

In a separate development, Court of Appeal judges have been asked to decide whether another family court judge's behind-closed-doors ruling on the murder should be made public.

A three-strong panel - headed by Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls and the head of civil justice in England and Wales - is scheduled to analyse issues surrounding publication of the ruling at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Friday.

The ruling was made by Mrs Justice Eleanor King following a behind-closed-doors hearing in the Family Division of High Court in the summer of 2014 - after Ellie had died but before her father, Ben Butler, 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Another family court judge has decided that Mrs Justice King's ruling should not be published in case reporting prejudices any re-trial if Butler mounts an appeal.

Mrs Justice Pauffley, who is also based in the Family Division of the High Court, last month rejected an application from several media organisations, who argued that publication of Mrs Justice King's ruling would be in the public interest in the wake of Butler's conviction.

Editors have now challenged Mrs Justice Pauffley's decision and are preparing to ask Lord Dyson - the second most senior judge in England and Wales, Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Burnett to allow publication.

In June, following a trial at the Old Bailey, Butler was convicted of murdering Ellie and given a minimum 23-year jail term.

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.

Your Local Guardian: Ben Butler with his daughter Ellie

Ben Butler cradles daughter Ellie as a baby

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.

Mrs Justice King analysed issues in 2014 following Ellie's death.

Social services bosses at Sutton Council, who had responsibility for Ellie's welfare, had asked Mrs Justice King to make ''findings of fact'' to help staff take decisions about the future of a younger sibling.

Mrs Justice King, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Butler had been ''responsible for Ellie's death''.

The judge said the little girl had suffered a skull fracture.

But her full ruling has not been revealed.

Mrs Justice Pauffley forecast that Mrs Justice King's ruling would make ''front page news'' if published.

She said arguments in favour of Mrs Justice King's ruling being published were ''powerful and strong''.

But she added publication was likely to generate ''very extensive'' reporting - and said she had decided that it should remain under wraps if there was ''any potential for a re-trial''.

Editors from the Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph and Times newspapers plus bosses from the BBC, ITN and Sky News had applied for Mrs Justice King's judgment to be released.

They had been represented at a hearing, in the Family Division of the High Court in London in June, before Mrs Justice Pauffley by barrister Jade Bunting.

Barrister Jacob Dean had represented the council.