Butlers set to settle dispute in court

Christopher Townsend, the lawyer of embattled Phoenix Academy founder, Craig Butler, confirmed that his client received a summon to appear in court on January 11, to answer to charges relating to the physical abuse of his son, Kyle, last Monday, at the academy's Mona High School training base.

However, Townsend insists his client is still keen on resolving the matter outside the courtroom, but revealed that so far the encounters between the pair have been testy and has prevented them from reaching a closed-door solution.

"There are no surprises. We anticipated the papers being served. This, despite the fact that lawyers from both sides have been talking with a view of trying to solve the problem," he told STAR Sports.

"Mr Butler had reported the matter first because he was assaulted. He was a bit hesitant to take it any further but now that it has escalated, he was advised to take it before the courts.

"This summon will be served on his son very soon, so both of them will be before the courts," he continued.

Mature approach

He added that, "The sticking point (to reaching a solution) is primarily tempers, everybody just need to cool down and appreciate that a mature approach to things is always the better position."

However, he says there is still time to reach an amicable settlement before they go to trial. And he strongly believes there would be no winner if the case eventually goes all the way.

"We have been asked that he (Kyle) be served a summon, as we have to protect ourselves.

"We have been trying our best not to escalate this. But we have reached the point where we have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves," Townsend stated.

"Of course this does not mean the dialogue has stopped. We are still trying to resolve it before going into the court, so we still have a little time to see if we can solve it as a family.

"But there is no favourable outcome to this, unless we sit and talk and resolve the matter. And so the intention is to resolve it as a family," he insisted.