A couple have been found guilty of the murder of their two-year-old grandson.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths was dangerously dehydrated and severely underweight, with 40 visible bruises or marks, when he collapsed with a catastrophic head injury at his grandparents’ home in Flintshire, North Wales, on the evening of August 14 2021.
A jury at Mold Crown Court convicted his grandfather Michael Ives, 47, and grandmother Kerry Ives, 46, of his murder and of cruelty to a child under 16.
Ethan’s mother Shannon Ives, 28, who had been staying with her son at her parents’ home in Garden City when the court heard he was “targeted for abuse and subjected to casual cruelty”, was found guilty of causing or allowing his death and of child cruelty.
Speaking outside court after the verdicts were returned, Ethan’s father Will Griffiths said: “He will be remembered for the smiley, outgoing, loving child that he was. He can now rest in peace, knowing that justice has been served.”
Jurors were visibly upset at points during the five-and-a-half week trial, during which CCTV from the family home was played which showed Michael Ives carrying his grandson by the top of his arm and appearing to punch him after putting him into a car seat.
The court heard Ethan had been placed on the child protection register, requiring him to be seen every 10 days, but when Shannon Ives last saw her social worker, on August 5, she spoke to him on the doorstep and told him Ethan was having a nap.
No-one answered the door when social worker Michael Cornish went to visit in the days before Ethan’s death and a scheduled appointment with a health visitor on August 13 was cancelled.
Shannon Ives had fled domestic violence from her home in Mold in June that year, the jury was told.
Her parents accused her of hitting her son, with Michael Ives telling the jury his daughter was “quick-tempered” and would slap Ethan a couple of times a day.
But Shannon Ives told the court her parents were “horrible” and abused her as a child.
The court heard Ethan was made to stand with his hands on his head as a punishment when he misbehaved.
CCTV footage from August 4 showed Michael Ives carrying his grandson by the top of his arm in a way which Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, described as “as though Ethan was just a bag of rubbish to be slung out”.
The video, taken from the back garden of the family’s four-bedroom home, showed Ethan appearing unsteady on the trampoline, or lying down, while other children bounced and appeared to show Michael Ives point the garden hose at him, place the toddler’s hands on his head and gesture to another child to punch Ethan.
After watching the video in court, Michael Ives said he felt “ashamed” and admitted being cruel and neglectful of the toddler, but denied mistreating him in other ways.
The cameras did not show Ethan leave the house after August 4 until August 12, when Michael Ives was seen again carrying him by the upper arm, putting him into a car seat and appearing to punch towards the youngster.
When Ethan was examined by doctors after his death, he was found to have abdominal injuries likely to have been caused by blows in the days before his collapse.
Other injuries included bruises which were consistent with grip marks on his leg and face.
Experts said Ethan would have died of dehydration within days had he not suffered the head injury and at the time of his death weighed just 10kg, the court was told.
Detective Superintendent Chris Bell said Ethan was singled out and “casually and brutally assaulted”.
He said: “It is beyond comprehension how anybody could treat a human being like that, let alone a defenceless two-year-old who you should be caring for.”
The jury heard medical evidence that Ethan’s fatal head injury was caused by deliberate force or shaking and occurred at the time, or in the minutes before, he collapsed on the evening of Saturday, August 14 2021.
Michael and Kerry Ives, originally from Wolverhampton, were in the living room with Ethan at the time of his collapse while his mother was on the phone upstairs.
Both told the jury “nothing” had happened to the toddler before he fainted as they watched television.
Kerry Ives said she immediately called Shannon Ives to come downstairs, but the court heard it was 18 minutes before she called emergency services.
Ethan was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital and later transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where he died two days later.
A Flintshire County Council spokeswoman said the council would be co-operating with an independent child practice review by the North Wales Safeguarding Board, who are leading a multi-agency review of the case.
The review, which aims to examine the involvement of agencies and identify what lessons can be learnt, is likely to be completed by the start of 2026 at the earliest, a spokesman for the safeguarding board said.
The jury deliberated for six hours and 54 minutes before returning their verdicts on Tuesday morning.
Mr Justice Griffiths told them that because of the “unusually distressing” subject matter in the trial, they could be exempted from jury service for the rest of their lives if they wished.
He said Michael Ives and Kerry Ives would be given life sentences and Shannon Ives faced a “substantial prison sentence”.
The defendants will be sentenced on October 3.
