A family friend who was jailed for helping Rebecca Minnock go into hiding with her three-year-old son may face prosecution for perjury, a judge has said.
Andrew Butt was jailed for 28 days last week for contempt of court over the disappearance of Minnock, who ran away with Ethan during a legal battle over the child with her former partner, Roger Williams.
Butt, the partner of Minnock’s mother, Louise, was freed from prison on Wednesday after applying to “purge his contempt”, meaning he was prepared to come clean over his role.
However, Judge Stephen Wildblood QC made it clear he could still face further criminal proceedings.
Wildblood told Bristol crown court that Butt belonged in prison for his behaviour and said his sentence was “richly deserved”. The judge said: “Andrew Butt, you have disgraced yourself publicly. You lied to the police. You lied twice in your evidence. You may face prosecution for perjury which, as I have explained, is a serious criminal offence.”
The lorry driver initially told the court he had no idea where Minnock had gone after leaving her home in Somerset.
Later he told the judge that he had actually dropped her and Ethan in Gloucestershire, where she has relatives. His initial account meant he was in contempt of court because he had defied an order that he should tell court officials everything he knew about what had happened to Minnock.
Wildblood said: “You deliberately obstructed the tipstaff [a court official involved in recovering children who go missing], the police and the court in their work. You have caused considerable amounts of public money to be wasted.
“You have now served the equivalent of a 16-day sentence since you have been in custody for eight days. Every day that you are in custody costs the public purse a great deal of money.
“I accept that you have now expressed regret for your actions and have apologised. Further, you encouraged Rebecca Minnock to give herself up and have shown genuine concern for the welfare of Ethan.
“The impact of the sentence upon you has been dramatic. You, and any others like you, now know where contempt will lead. As I said when I sentenced you, you allowed yourself to get caught up in this family’s attempt at a publicity stunt at the expense of the child concerned, Ethan.
“You are now marked as a man who lies and who has been to prison for a serious contempt. You may well face prosecution for your lies.
“As far as this family court is concerned I consider that the court has sufficiently marked its deprecation of your actions and that you should now be released. I therefore accept that you should now be released from custody, having purged your contempt.”
Butt was jailed alongside Louise Minnock. Earlier this week, the judge branded Rebecca Minnock “utterly irresponsible”, saying that if everyone behaved like her there would be anarchy.
