Joey Barton ordered to pay eye-watering sum towards Jeremy Vine's legal costs after their libel battle
The BBC Radio 2 presenter, 60, had sued for libel and harassment over posts on X falsely calling him a 'big bike nonce ' and a 'paedo defender'.
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The pair settled last year as Barton, 42, posted two apologies on X and paid £110,000 in damages.
A court hearing in London yesterday heard Barton had agreed to pay £160,000 of Vine's costs.
But Vine wanted a further £60,000 for costs over negotiating that sum.
Suzanner Holmes, for Barton, said that the request was 'excessive'.
She said it should be reduced.
But Vine's representative Kevin Latham said Barton had 'repeatedly failed to engage in proper negotiation'.
The court ruled Barton should pay £43,172.20 to add to the £160,000.
Neither Barton nor Vine attended the hearing in London.
Shamed Joey Barton GUILTY of kicking wife in head as their kids slept upstairs
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Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rise of the MAGs (that's middle-aged grandparents!): Steven Gerrard joins the ranks of 40-something stars who have welcomed grandchildren
While celebrities are known for holding back the years with expensive beauty treatments and intense fitness regimes, there's no event quite as ageing - albeit joyful - like becoming a grandparent. That said, when Steven Gerrard welcomed his first granddaughter this week, aged 45, he joined the ranks of celebrities who are have entered their grandparent era early in mid-life. He's in good company with Danny Dyer, Dean Gaffney, and Snoop Dogg who were all just 43 when they became grandfathers for the first time. Meanwhile, actress Kym Marsh revealed last month that she is set to become a grandmother for the fourth time at the age of 49. In some cases, stars who became parents at a young age, then divorced and started second families, have young children who are only a few years older than the new arrivals. For instance, Ronan Keating's youngest daughter Coco was just three years old when his granddaughter - her niece - was born in 2023. Steven Gerrard - 45 Steven Gerrard, 45, became a grandad at this week when his daughter, Lilly-Ella, welcomed her first child - a baby girl. The influencer, 21, took to Instagram to share a black and white image of her boyfriend Lee Byrne, leaving the hospital whilst carrying their newborn in a car seat. She simply captioned the photo, '@leebyrne8 2 becomes 3'. The eldest child of the former England footballer announced she was expecting her first child in January. Lilly has been in a relationship with Lee Byrne - the son of a jailed Irish gangster - since October 2022, and their romance made headlines when it first came to light. Former midfielder Steven has four children with wife Alex - daughters Lilly, Lexie, 19, Lourdes, 14, and a son named Lio, eight. Lilly announced her pregnancy news in January, sharing a photo of her positive pregnancy test and telling her 222,000 Instagram followers: 'Our little secret. The best news... mini us is on the way.' Responding to his daughter's post, Gerrard wrote: 'We can't wait. Congratulations and we love you.' Lilly's partner - with whom she was first linked in 2022 - is the son of Kinahan Cartel gangster Liam Byrne, who was issued a five and a half year prison sentence for a plot to stockpile a stash of machine guns. Ronan Keating - 46 Ronan Keating, who is a father-of-five, became a grandfather for the first time aged 46 in 2023. The Boyzone singer shares three children with his ex-wife Yvonne Connolly and two children with his current wife Storm Keating. His eldest son Jack became a father aged 23 in March 2023 when he announced he had welcomed baby girl, but didn't reveal who the mother was until later. The news came as a shock because it happened just months after he left the Love Island villa - he is not in a relationship with the mother of his child. Jack announced in an Instagram post that he had welcomed a baby girl - confusing fans because he hadn't mentioned a child before. He had appeared on the ITV2 show eight months prior - meaning his baby daughter was likely conceived before his appearance on the show. Jack has not been public about a romantic relationship since leaving the Love Island villa but the mother was later revealed to be artist Keely Iqbal. While hosting The One Show shortly after the birth, Ronan made reference to his family's new addition while insisting he wants to be called 'pops'. When his co-host Jermaine Jenas said, 'You're a grandad now,' the former Boyzone star replied, 'Yes I am. My son had a gorgeous baby.' Jermaine then said: 'You prefer to be called something else?' with Ronan responding. 'Pops.' Dean Gaffney - 43 EastEnders star Dean Gaffney revealed he had become a grandfather at the age of 43 - after one of his twin daughters, Chloe, gave birth in July 2021. The actor, who is most famous for playing hapless Robbie on the soap, shared a picture of himself holding the baby girl, Mimi, on Instagram. In the sweet snap, he cradles the child in his arms and is looking at the newborn affectionately. He joked with his followers: 'Just to thank everyone in advance, I know I don't look old enough to be a father let alone a grandfather!' The actor shares twins, Chloe and Charlotte, with ex partner Sarah Burge. The pair met when they were just 15-years-old and dated for 22 years before they announced their split in June 2015, after he admitted to cheating on her with a string of women. Danny Dyer - 43 Danny Dyer became a grandfather at 43, after his daughter Dani welcomed her first child with her now ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence. The EastEnders star, who has three children, was just 18 when his wife Joanne welcomed their first child Dani, after getting together aged 14. Dani revealed her father, Danny, 'couldn't stop crying' after becoming a grandfather to her son, Santiago. Speaking on the Made By Mammas podcast, the former Love Islander confirmed the actor didn't expect to be so emotional as he said he 'never felt anything like' becoming a granddad. She said: 'My dad didn't realise [he would be so emotional about being a granddad]. He has been so emotional around Santiago, the other day he was really crying. 'He went: 'I love babies, but your baby. I have never felt anything like it. I didn't think I'd feel like this'. 'He hasn't experienced being a grandad yet, I made him a first time grandad. It has hit him more now. 'He did see me pregnant and getting bigger but seeing me with the baby, it's like, 'this is real now'.' Dani went on to welcome twins daughters named Sunny and Star in 2023 with her husband Jarrod Bowen. Kym Marsh - 46 Kym Marsh announced last month that she is to become a grandmother for a fourth time. The soap star, 49, took to Instagram with a gushing post as she revealed daughter Emilie Cunliffe and son-in Michael Hoszowskyj were expecting their second child. Kym, who shares actress Emilie, 28, with ex David Cunliffe, said she was 'thrilled' and shared a snap of the couple's son Teddy, six, and Michael's daughter Polly, nine, proudly holding an ultra sound picture. She wrote: 'I am so thrilled to share the news!!! Grandchild number 4… incoming!!! Congratulations to my beautiful daughter @listentoemilie , my wonderful son in law @mikeyhoz and Teddy and Polly!! Can't wait to meet you little one!'. Kym is also grandmother to her eldest child David's son Clayton, who he welcomed with fiancée Courtney in 2022. Kym is also mother to 14-year-old daughter Poppy whom she shares with ex-husband and Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas, as well son Archie who as born 18 weeks premature in 2009 and passed away shortly after birth Kym and Jamie first met on a train as they made their way to the 2007 TV Quick Awards before developing a romance in July 2008 - a year before Kym's divorce from ex-husband Jack Ryder. She married a third time in 2021, when she tied the knot with soldier Scott Ratcliff, before their split was announced in May 2023. Jessie Wallace - 50 EastEnders star Jessie Wallace became grandmother at 50 after her 17-year-old daughter Tallulah gave birth to her first child. The actress, who plays Kat Slater on the BBC One soap, announced the arrival of her family's new addition on her Instagram page in March 2022, saying: 'Welcome to the world, my grandson SJ. You are loved, cherished, and adored.' Jessie was congratulated by her Albert Square co-stars including Lacey Turner and Jimmy Bye, who play Stacey Slater and Martin Fowler in the long-running drama. A source close to Jessie told MailOnline at the time: 'Jessie is chuffed to bits about being a grandmother. 'Her close circle knew Tallulah was pregnant and how excited the family were. They're both looking forward to making a lifetime of memories.' The identity of the baby's father is yet to be revealed as Jessie continues to keep Tallulah out of the spotlight – and away from her social media accounts. She has rarely been pictured. Jessie shares daughter Tallulah with her ex-partner Dave Morgan but the couple split shortly after she was born. The actress began dating the policeman in 2003 after Dave accompanied her in court where she was appearing on a drink and drive charge. Snoop Dogg - 43 Snoop Dogg became a grandfather at the age of 43 when his eldest son Cordé became a father to son Zion in 2015. 'Zion. U have a lot of love Waitn on u grandson!!' Snoop Dogg wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by a montage of various family members - most of them looking fondly at the newborn. A second photo showed Snoop Dogg's wife, Shante Taylor, holding the baby, captioned as 'Proud grandma @bosslady.' In 2023 the rapper told MailOnline he had moderated his weed consumption and re-evaluated his lifestyle after becoming a grandfather 'Being a grandfather has changed me in multiple ways,' he told MailOnline. 'The main way is being concerned with how I live, how I move, the kind of people I'm associated with, because I want to see my grandkids grow old. 'The only way I can do that is to take precautionary steps as far as how I move, who I hang out with, where I go out, my intake, what am I intaking?' Last year, he revealed how many grandchildren he actually had during an appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show. 'Now, OK, I was trying to imagine Snoop as a granddad. So how many grandkids do you actually have?' the host asked. 'Actually, I have a total of 12 grandkids,' he answered. 'Yes, yes I do. And they're different ages, ranges, sizes and I love them all the same way.' 'Actually, my oldest grandson, his birthday is today so I'm on my way to his birthday party when I leave here.' he told the audience. 'He's going to be 9 years old, that's Zion Broadus,' Snoop explained. Jennifer asked the My Family artist what his grandkids called him. The Doggyland star explained that Zion was the first to come up with a title. 'He used to call me Papa Noop, because he couldn't say Snoop, so he started calling me Papa Noop. And then as time went by, he learned how to say Snoop, so now I'm Papa Snoop.' Kiefer Sutherland - 39 Kiefer first became a grandfather aged 39 when his stepdaughter Michelle Kath welcomed her son Hamish in 2011. His daughter Sarah Sutherland later welcomed a son named Quinn in 2018. He previously told Australia's 7News: 'The wonderful thing about grandchildren is you give them back. So when they come to visit me, I've got my $5 and my $10 and I've got some chocolate and Coca-Colas and everything they're not supposed to have. 'I spend about two hours getting them completely wired, I give them cash so they'll come back, and then I hand them back to their mother and say 'good luck.'' Kiefer became a father himself aged 20 and credited fatherhood for putting him on the straight and narrow. In a new interview with Radio Times, the actor reflected on the early days of Hollywood and how having children saved him from decisions which could have been 'very damaging for me'. He has been charged with drink driving four times over the years, he was sentenced to 48 days in jail in 2007 after failing a sobriety test. 'I'm not a moron, I know the difference between right and wrong. It's just sometimes I've done the wrong thing,' he says. But the Designated Survivor star, who has one daughter Sarah and one stepdaughter from his second marriage, to Camelia Kath, credits his family for keeping him grounded. Keifer said having children at a such a young age made his 'get away from a bunch of other things that I think could have been very damaging for me'. Pierce Brosnan - 44 Pierce Brosnan first became a grandad at the age of 44 when his late daughter Charlotte welcomed Isabella with her husband Alex Smith. Charlotte was nine years old when her mother Cassandra, an Australian actress who played a Bond girl in For Your Eyes Only, married the star at Chelsea Registry Office in 1980. Tragically Charlotte passed away at her London home in 2013 after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer - the same disease which killed her mother Cassandra 22 years prior. Charlotte and her brother Christopher, from Cassandra's previous marriage to Dermot, were joined by a half-sibling Sean in 1983. Although Pierce and Charlotte were not biologically related, he has previously spoken of the close relationship he enjoyed with her and her brother after he married Cassandra. 'We just clicked as a family,' he said. 'To begin with I was Pierce, then I was Daddy Pierce, and then I just became Dad. Charlotte and Chris have just been amazing in my life.' Pierce adopted his wife's children after their biological father Dermot Harris died in 1986, and they changed their surname to his.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
A well-connected cartel! The Kinahans' links to the worlds of showbiz and sport - as Stephen Gerrard's daughter welcomes a baby with jailed mobster's son
Steven Gerrard is now a proud grandfather after his daughter, Lilly-Ella, gave birth to a baby girl. While this will be a moment of unbridled joy for the Liverpool and England legend, it also marks the formal coming together of two strikingly different families. After all, the baby's 25-year-old father, Lee Byrne, is the son of Liam Byrne - a senior member of Ireland's feared Kinahan Cartel. The gang - which now operates from Dubai - is one of the world's most powerful organised crime groups with a multi-million pound empire spanning drug-smuggling, arms-running, money laundering and extortion. While there is no suggestion Lee is involved in crime, his relationship with Lilly-Ella has certainly raised eyebrows, with former Garda assistant commissioner Pat Leahy previously warning Gerrard that any links with the Byrne clan did him 'no favours'. Mr Leahy made the comments in 2023, shortly after Liam was arrested over an arms smuggling plot. A year later, he was sentenced to five years in prison, a moment Lee marked by writing: 'I love you da. See you soon'. He was let out in January under Labour's early release scheme after serving just three months. While Gerrard may have been the latest public figure to face scrutiny for his Kinahan links, he is far from the first. A raft of other celebrities have also come into their orbit, from shamed UFC fighter Conor McGregor to some of the biggest names in the boxing world, including perhaps the greatest of all - Tyson Fury. Lee Byrne in Dubai with his girlfriend Lilly-Ella Gerrard (left) and her parents, former England captain Steven and his wife Alex Lee and Lilly-Ella have celebrated the bird of a baby girl, who was born on Tuesday Footballing legend Steven (pictured), 45, is now a grandfather for the first time Like Gerrard, McGregor is tied to the Kinahans through a relative - with his sister, Aoife, dating convicted drug-dealer and money-launderer Graham 'The Wig' Whelan. Whelan, 41, is a reputedly linked to the cartel, which has been blamed for gangland slayings in a string of countries including Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Patriarch Christopher 'Christy' Kinahan, 68, began the mob in Dublin in the late 1990s, but it is now thought to be run by his 48-year-old son, Daniel. The US has offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Christy, Daniel, and his brother - Christy Jr. Whelan has been in a relationship with Aoife since 2021, and in 2023 she went public by sharing an image of them together at McGregor's pub, the Black Forge Inn, in the Dublin suburb of Crumlin. The couple were seen sitting on the couch with a large glass of whiskey on the table in front of them. Aoife has one arm draping over his shoulder and the other on his leg. Whelan has also played several games for the pub's football team and appeared in several photographs with McGregor. It's believed the picture of Aoife and Whelan at the Black Forge Inn was taken days after he was released from jail after serving an 18-month sentence for money laundering. While there is no suggestion Lee is involved in crime, his relationship with Lilly-Ella has certainly raised eyebrows Lee's father Liam was sentenced to five years in prison last year. Lee marked the moment by writing : 'I love you da. See you soon'. He was let out in January under Labour's early release scheme after serving just three months Gerrard pictured with Nathan 'Biggie' Little, who has been previously named in the Irish High Court as a low-level member of the Byrne Organised Crime Group. This is considered the Irish wing of the Kinahan cartel Whelan was also a guest at the wedding of McGregor's other sister, Erin, in County Tipperary in August. A self-described 'dangerous criminal', Whelan was associated with David Byrne, who was shot dead in a gun attack at Dublin's Regency Hotel in February 2016. David was Liam's brother, and therefore Lee's uncle. While Daniel Kinahan is currently keeping a low profile, he previously worked as a boxing promoter in an apparent attempt to gain a reputation as a legitimate businessman. In 2012 he set up his own management company, MTK Global, which was first based in Marbella before moving to Dubai. He went on to work with some of the leading lights of boxing, including former world champion Tyson Fury. Their business relationship was openly acknowledged by the Gypsy King, who once hailed Daniel as a 'key advisor' and was pictured with him in Dubai. In June 2020, Fury credited him with helping to organise his big comeback fight against Anthony Joshua, saying in a social media video: 'I'm just after getting off the phone with Daniel Kinahan. Conor McGregor with his sister Aoife, who is going out with Kinahan associate Graham 'The Wig' Whelan Last year she went public after sharing this image of them together at McGregor's pub in Dublin McGregor (centre) is pictured at a family wedding with Whelan (left) 'He's just informed me that the biggest fight in British boxing history has just been agreed. Get in there my boy! Big thank you Dan for getting this deal over the line. ' Daniel was also involved in brokering a deal for Fury's second and third fights against Deontay Wilder, as well as his bouts against Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin in 2019. Scrutiny of Fury's ties to Daniel increased in April 2022 when the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the mobster, his brother, father, and several associates. At one point, their relationship even led to the boxer being briefly banned from the US. After long refusing to share details about his relationship with Daniel, Fury finally broke his silence in April 2022 by insisting that his crime links were 'none of my business, and I don't get involved in other people's business'. Fury added that he had not dealt with the gangster 'for a long time'. Other boxers who signed up with MTK included Billy Joe Saunders, Josh Taylor and Carl Frampton. Daniel's other cheerleaders included the flyweight Sunny Edwards and former UFC fighter turned boxer Darren Till. Like Fury, none have been accused of any crimes. Tyson Fury posing with Daniel Kinahan in Dubai in 2022, when the mob boss was acting as his advisor Kinahan has previously worked with other leading British boxers, including Sunny Edwards Kinahan with former UFC fighter turned boxer Darren Till Asked in 2023 about his involvement with MTK, Frampton said he got a 'fair bit of grief' for it but did not have any regrets because they were 'good for me'. Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum also dealt with Daniel and admitted this year to being tricked by the gangster's claims to have stepped away from crime. 'Remember at the time, things around his reputation were debatable - I fell for the thing he was a bad guy but he had changed and he had gone legit,' he told the Irish Sun. While the Kinahans have long enjoyed a glitzy lifestyle and connections with the rich and famous, their luck may soon run out. They are now believed to be planning a move from Dubai after their alleged senior associate, Sean McGovern, became the first person to be extradited from the UAE to Ireland after a treaty was finally ratified. McGovern's arrest and extradition is the latest blow to the Kinahans following the successful prosecution of their UK chief, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh. Christy Kinahan began the Kinahan Cartel as a drug-dealing ring in Dublin in the 1990s and has expanded it into a global empire. Son Daniel (right) is believed to run its day-to-day operations Kavanagh was originally handed a 21-year jail term in 2022. He was given another six years in 2024 for amassing a stash of firearms before sharing their location with police in the hope of securing a softer sentence. As the net tightens on the Kinahans, they are said to be considering moving their base to a more welcoming location - such as the Iranian territory of Kish Island.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside horror house where grandparents beat a toddler to death: Despicable abuse and starvation missed by social services, as daughter reveals
The final few weeks of Ethan Ives-Griffiths' short existence must have been a living hell. The once smiley and chubby two-year-old was starved of food and water and repeatedly punched, leaving him severely dehydrated, underweight and covered in marks and bruises. Harrowing video footage, filmed just ten days before his death on August 16, 2021, showed him walking with a strange, knock-kneed gait and falling over, barely able to hold up his own head, as he was bounced on a trampoline by older children in the scruffy back garden of his grandparents' home. By the time Ethan died, he was little more than skin and bone. One health professional said he was so gaunt he looked more like a 90-year-old man than a toddler. A post-mortem found more than 40 visible injuries on his tiny frame, including fingerprint-shaped marks to his face, bruising on his arms, legs and chest, a chipped tooth and tears to his mouth and lip, which had a large chunk missing. Other more serious internal injuries, however, including bleeding in his abdomen and brain, most likely caused by shaking, were the ultimate cause of his death. Of course, the death of any child is desperately sad. But what perhaps makes little Ethan's all the more tragic is that it occurred at the hands of his own grandparents and in full view of his mother – who did nothing to stop her son's abuse. Worse still, his death also took place under the noses of social workers, who were supposed to be closely monitoring his care. Once again – as Michael Ives, 47, and his wife, Kerry, 46, were convicted of Ethan's murder and their daughter and Ethan's mother, Shannon, 28, found guilty of allowing his death – the abject failure of the State to protect vulnerable children during the Covid-19 pandemic has fallen under the spotlight. Like Star Hobson, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Logan Mwangi before him, Ethan Ives-Griffiths' name will now be added to the tragic roll call of children murdered when home visits by social services were restricted during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. A safeguarding review is now being carried out into how he came to be killed, just five weeks after being identified as at-risk of significant harm and placed on the child protection register, in the 'second summer' of the Covid pandemic in August 2021. Mold Crown Court heard that he was supposed to be seen – either by a health visitor or social worker – every ten days, but professionals struggled to contact his mother, who repeatedly cancelled or missed appointments, and lied or fobbed them off when they visited. On one occasion, a social worker spent 43 minutes chatting to Shannon on the doorstep of her parents' home in Garden City, Flintshire, North Wales, where she was living with Ethan. But, due to Covid restrictions, the social worker didn't go inside or see the toddler who he was told was taking a nap. In fact, in the 41 days between July 6, 2021 – when the decision was taken to place Ethan on the register – and August 16, when he died, he was seen in person just once. All this, despite Ethan having been on the radar of social services since the day he was born, on April 27, 2019. Back then, Shannon already had two older sons, aged three and 18 months, and was living in a hostel for homeless women following the breakdown of her relationship with on-off boyfriend, Will Griffiths, 29, who was Ethan's father. Over the next two years, however, the couple patched up their differences and got back together, also adding a baby daughter to their brood. But an incident in early June 2021, when Shannon called police to the couple's home in Mold, North Wales, would ultimately seal Ethan's fate. Officers arrested Mr Griffiths for controlling and coercive behaviour and told Shannon that she and the children had to move out for their own safety. She initially went to stay with her sister, but living in a cramped, two-bedroomed flat with her four children was impractical so, with nowhere else to go, she reluctantly made the decision to move back in with her parents. But the move, on July 16, was problematic. Shannon told the trial that she first left home at 16 because, from the age of four, she was 'hit on a daily basis' by her father – who was also physically abusive to her seven siblings. Michael kept reptiles as pets and on one occasion dropped a box of live locusts on her, she said. He also often called her names, referring to her as a 'slag'. She said she was 'petrified' of him. 'We would get punched (and) kicked, we would get a belt used on us,' Shannon said. Social worker Joanne Price said Shannon told her about her 'horrible' parents and chaotic upbringing, which was documented in her record. Ms Price claimed she would never have allowed Shannon and Ethan to move in with them if they had still been in her caseload in July 2016. But, by then, Ms Price had left her role and one of her colleagues, Michael Cornish, instead took on Shannon and Ethan's case. Early that month, on July 6, 2021, a decision was taken to place Ethan on the child protection register – a move which was finalised on July 19. Three days later Mr Cornish visited Shannon and Ethan at Michael and Kerry's home for the first time. Mr Cornish said Ethan was small and shy and didn't speak at all during the visit. He claimed he witnessed a 'subtle' dip in the toddler's demeanour when Michael spoke about him. Kerry told Mr Cornish that Shannon couldn't stay with them for 'longer than two weeks' and urged him to help her find alternative accommodation. That was the last time any professional saw Ethan alive. Over the next three weeks he left the property only twice and was subjected to serious 'pain, distress and misery' which culminated in his murder. CCTV footage from cameras trained on Michael and Kerry Ives' back garden, that was played to the court, showed Michael 'roughly' picking up a visibly skinny Ethan by his arm 'like a bag of rubbish or a rag doll'. During the video, taken on August 4, the toddler was also seen walking unsteadily, seemingly unable to hold himself up and falling flat on his face on a trampoline, as his mother and another older child bounced around him. Michael was also seen gesturing with a closed fist to the older boy to punch Ethan. Experts who viewed the footage said the toddler's behaviour suggested he had already sustained an injury to his brain by this date. The following day, at about 3pm, Mr Cornish tried to visit for a second time but Shannon lied and told him she had Covid and couldn't go inside. She and her mother spoke with the social worker for more than 40 minutes on the doorstep, but when Mr Cornish pushed to see Ethan, Kerry claimed he was asleep and refused to wake him from his nap. Four days later, on August 9, Shannon's health visitor Ellie Jones contacted Mr Cornish because she was worried that she hadn't managed to speak to her for ten days. Shannon had missed an online video call with various health professionals the same day, saying she was too ill to attend. Ms Jones and Mr Cornish went to the house together three days later, but there was no one home. On the same day Mr Ives was again seen on CCTV roughly carrying Ethan by his arm and punching him twice as he put him into his car seat. Shannon cancelled another meeting with Ms Jones at the last minute the following day, telling the health visitor that Ethan was poorly. Later, on August 13, the toddler collapsed and lost consciousness for the first time, before coming to ten minutes later. Despite this, nobody sought medical help for Ethan – a decision one doctor told the court was 'incomprehensible' and a 'dereliction of parental responsibility'. Instead, Michael and Kerry, who claimed she couldn't work because she suffered from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, took Ethan shopping to Tesco at a retail park nearby. By then, Shannon said, she suspected her son was being starved and abused by his grandparents. She said she had dressed her son for the first time in weeks and was shocked at how much weight he had lost and confronted her parents about bruising to his legs. They claimed he was just clumsy and had 'walked into the door' and threatened her that he would be taken into care if she tried to take him to see a doctor. Shannon cried in the witness box as she described how her father would shout at her son all the time and smack him. She described how he would make Ethan stand with his legs open wide and his hands on his head for up to two hours – sometimes in the middle of the night – if he kept his grandfather up or misbehaved. 'There they were, being violent to a little boy who had done nothing at all,' she said. One juror wiped away tears as details of Ethan's injuries were read to the court. The jury was also shown a text message Michael sent to his daughter, saying: 'Ethan needs to learn the hard way.' Shannon said Ethan was scared of his grandfather, who would often remove food from her son's mouth with his fingers on the pretence that he was 'choking' and do the same with his beaker, claiming he was 'drinking too fast'. The mother-of-four, who is of low IQ and needed an intermediary with her in the dock to help her follow the trial, said she was 'ashamed' she'd turned a blind eye to the abuse but claimed she was also 'too scared' to stand up to her parents. 'I should have done better,' she told the jury. 'I should have told my mum and dad to back away.' At 9.40pm the following evening, on August 14, Ethan was watching television with his grandparents when he collapsed and fell unconscious again. Shannon was upstairs on her phone and Kerry shouted for her to come down quickly. But instead of dialling 999 immediately they Facetimed another of Kerry's daughters and waited 18 minutes before calling an ambulance. Overwhelming medical evidence presented to the jury showed that Ethan, who never regained consciousness and died in hospital two days later, had likely been vigorously shaken and suffered a fatal blow to the head in the moments before. Michael, who was previously employed at a B&M Bargain store but gave up his job to become his wife's full-time carer, denied harming his grandson and instead claimed Shannon was 'always' smacking Ethan. He said she was quick-tempered and he'd once overheard her telling Ethan: 'You need to f*** off in care, you little b******.' Kerry, who once lied about being diagnosed with cancer to get some 'peace and quiet' from her own family, also claimed she saw Shannon 'clap' Ethan around the head. Shannon denied hitting Ethan, but other relatives gave evidence that they'd seen her tell him to 'shut up' and place him 'forcefully' in his cot when he was upset. She also appeared unconcerned and more interested in rolling a cigarette or looking at her phone after Ethan collapsed, they said. In the end, the jury realised Michael, Kerry and Shannon – who were also found guilty of child cruelty – had all told lies and convicted them of the charges laid against them. Following the verdicts, Mr Griffiths, who the Mail understands was never prosecuted in connection with the domestic incident, said his son could 'rest in peace' now 'justice has been served'. 'Unfortunately, I did not get much time with Ethan, but the time I did have was precious,' he said. 'He will never be forgotten and will always live on in our hearts and memories. 'He will be remembered for the smiley, outgoing, loving child that he was.' A spokesman for Flintshire Council said they were co-operating with the independent child practice review being carried out by the North Wales Safeguarding Board into Ethan's case. 'Ethan's tragic death has shocked and appalled the community of Flintshire and it is inconceivable that his young life was taken by those who should have protected him,' he said. 'Our thoughts remain with all those who loved and supported Ethan during his short life.' Mr Justice Martin Griffiths warned Michael and Kerry they would be jailed for life and Shannon was also looking at a 'substantial' prison term when he sentences them in October.
