A couple who murdered their two-year-old grandson have been jailed for life.
Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, were found guilty of his murder and cruelty to a child in July after a trial at Mold Crown Court.
They were jailed for minimum terms of 23 years and 17 years respectively.
Their grandson Ethan Ives-Griffiths was dangerously dehydrated, severely underweight and had 40 visible bruises or marks when he collapsed with a catastrophic head injury at his grandparents’ home in Flintshire, North Wales, on 14 August 2021.
Ethan’s mother, Shannon Ives, 28, who had been staying with her son at her parents’ home, was found guilty of causing or allowing his death and child cruelty.
The court heard Ethan was made to stand with his hands on his head as a punishment when he misbehaved.
CCTV footage shown to jurors during the trial showed Michael Ives carrying his grandson by the top of his arm in a way described by prosecutor Caroline Rees KC “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 a trampoline, or lying down, while other children bounced.
Michael Ives was seen to point a garden hose at him, placed the toddler’s hands on his head, and gestured to another child to punch him.
After watching the video in court, Michael Ives said he felt “ashamed” and admitted being cruel and neglectful but denied mistreating Ethan in other ways.
He said his daughter was “quick-tempered” and would slap Ethan a couple of times a day, but Shannon Ives claimed her parents were “horrible” and abused her as a child.
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.
The pair told the jury “nothing” had happened to the toddler before he fainted as they watched television.
Kerry Ives said she immediately called her daughter 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.
He was found to have abdominal injuries likely to have been caused by blows in the days before his collapse, as well as bruises 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.
Ethan’s fatal head injury was said to have been caused by deliberate force or shaking, and occurred at the time, or in the minutes before, he collapsed.
Following the verdicts, 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.”
Child protection register
The court heard the youngster had been placed on the child protection register, requiring him to be seen every 10 days.
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But when Shannon Ives last saw her social worker, on 5 August 2021, 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 13 August was cancelled.
