Toddler allegedly murdered by grandparents had 40 injuries like a car crash victim
Toddler allegedly murdered by grandparents had 40 injuries like a car crash victim
Murder trial told Ethan Ives-Griffiths's injuries were the kind seen in a high-speed road crash or fall from a great height of up to five storeys
Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers
(Image: David Powell )
The horrific injuries suffered by a toddler allegedly murdered by his grandparents were detailed to a jury today.
Ethan Ives Griffiths, two, had suffered a traumatic catalogue of more than 40 injuries that a Home Office pathologist concluded could only have been caused by shaking or assault.
The toddler had been injured and his blood had clotted so often that "the clotting factors in the blood had been used up," Dr Rodgers said, adding: "It's a terminal, critical, dying event".
Ethan's grandparents Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, are on trial at Mold Crown Court where they are accused of murder, which they deny.
Dr Brian Rodgers told the court today that he carried out a post-mortem examination on Ethan at Alder Hey Children's Hospital mortuary three days after his death on August 16, 2021.
Ethan-Ives Griffiths
(Image: Family handout )
Article continues below
He said Ethan "looked small" and not well nourished. He said: "He looked thin... his left ear lobe had been pierced."
Dr Rodgers said Ethan weighed around one and a half stone but should have weighed around two stone at his age.
He said the injuries the two-year-old had suffered were usually seen in victims of severe trauma like a high-speed road crash.
He said: "You are not going to get this bleeding and spinal injury from a low level force. You'd have to fall from a great height - three, four, five storeys from a balcony" (to have Ethan's injuries)."
Ethan's injuries included bruises on his forehead, teeth, cheek, jaw, lip, nose, lip, ear, neck, chest, arm, finger, hand, forearm, elbow, knees, thighs and shins.
Dr Rodgers said some of them may have been caused by slaps, rough handling, being grabbed or force.
He said that a blood clot in the brain and in the brain stem at the back of the head were "an indication of head trauma, with or without shaking".
There was also bleeding in Ethan's gut and bowel which Dr Rodgers said were likely to be separate areas of bleeding.
Michael Ives arrives at Mold Crown Court where he is on trial for murdering his grandson Ethan Ives-Griffiths
(Image: David Powell )
He said: "Something has happened to this child's abdomen to cause bleeding in these two sites. The most likely cause is a blow to the abdomen delivered twice.
There was also "bleeding in the eyes".
Dr Rodgers said: "In a small baby it's gripping and vigorous shaking. In an infant the head is quite heavy and the head doing that on top of the spine and the movment of the brain damages the nerve roots of the spinal cord. So to me that shows an element of shaking (in this case)."
He said that the lack of tissue under the lip on the gum was a "red flag" for trauma and a chipped tooth suggested an impact to the mouth.
He said: "There was a multiplicity of marks scattered over Ethan's body. Some of the red marks to the face are likely to be small tiny areas of damage - very small bruises.
"There were also obvious brusies that were fresher - pink or blue - and older bruises that were brown... Other marks raised the possibility of gripping injuries to an arm, to a left leg."
Dr Rodgers said a second expert, Dr Daniel Du Plessis, confirmed no natural disease could have cause Ethan's injuries.
He said there was evidence of an "acute event very close to the collapse" on August 14 and old head injuries that caused chronic bleeding.
Michael and Kerry Ives, of Kingsley Road, Garden City, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a person under 16 years. Ethan's mother Shannon Ives, aged 28, of Nant Garmon, Mold, is also on trial accused of causing or allowing the death of a child, and also cruelty to a person under 16 years.
Article continues below
All three deny the charges. The trial is expected to last six weeks.
The case continues
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Alleged gunman went to homes of two other intended targets, police say
But one of the other politicians was not home and the suspect left the other house after police arrived, acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson said at a press conference on Monday. The suspect, Vance Boelter, surrendered to police on Sunday after they found him in the woods near his home following a massive manhunt that began early on Saturday near Minneapolis. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Authorities say he also shot senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence about nine miles away. The 57-year-old Boelter was charged with federal murder and stalking offenses. He already faces state charges, including murder and attempted murder. 'Boelter planned his attack carefully' by researching his intended victims and their families and conducting surveillance of their homes and taking notes, Mr Thompson said. Though the targets were Democrats and elected officials, Mr Thompson said it was too soon to speculate on any sort of political ideology that could explain his motives. Law enforcement officers investigate the home of shooting suspect Vance Boelter in Green Isle, Minnesota (George Walker IV/AP) Mr Thompson said it was too early to say if the Justice Department would seek the death penalty but noted that that was among the options available to the government based on the charges. The counts charged in the criminal complaint could be amended by prosecutors as they pursue a grand jury indictment as a prerequisite for bringing the case to trial. Authorities declined to name the two other elected officials whom Boelter allegedly stalked but who escaped harm. But it was clear the shootings were politically motivated, they said. 'This was a targeted attack against individuals who answered the call to public service,' said Alvin Winston, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis field office. The resulting search, he said, was the largest manhunt in the history of Minnesota. Boelter's wife consented to a search of her phone by law enforcement, according to an FBI affidavit that cites from a text from Boelter to a family group chat: 'Dad went to war last night … I don't wanna say more because I don't wanna implicate anybody.' Earlier, the search for Boelter was the 'largest manhunt in the state's history,' Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said.
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Grooming gangs inquiry: how will it help victims and affect the law?
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said she will commission a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs and enact a series of law changes. It comes after a 197-page report by Lady Casey examining what more could be done to bring perpetrators to justice. Here are the key points from the report. Casey said that local inquiries should be coordinated by an independent commission which has full statutory inquiry powers. It would be time limited and targeted. The report said that the inquiry would set strict timescales and terms of reference for the local investigations, and be able to compel witnesses where they refuse to cooperate. There should be a charter for victims about what they should reasonably expect from this process, Casey said. Cooper said the national inquiry will go ahead, with details of the chair and funding announced in due course. It will not be the kind of overarching inquiry like the one into child sexual abuse conducted by Prof Alexis Jay. The purpose would be to combat 'denial, resistance and legal wrangling among local agencies'. Casey said there should be 'a vigorous approach to righting the wrongs of the past' and state agencies should be held to account for any part they played in allowing these crimes to go undetected and unpunished. 'Blindness, ignorance, prejudice, defensiveness and even good but misdirected intentions, all play a part in a collective failure to properly deter and prosecute offenders or to protect children from harm,' she said. Data from three police forces had identified 'clear evidence of over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani heritage,' Cooper said, citing the report. The collection of ethnicity and nationality data for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases will be made mandatory. In her report, Casey said that 'there had been enough convictions across the country of groups of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds to have warranted closer examination'. She said that obscuring the data was also unfair on Asian, Pakistani and Muslim communities because they 'needlessly suffer as those with malicious intent use this obfuscation to sow and spread hatred'. 'It is not racist to want to examine the ethnicity of offenders,' Casey wrote, saying it was vital to understanding offending. She said that common assertions that the majority of child sexual abuse offenders are white 'even if true, are at best misleading', and that given that 80% of the UK population is white, it should always be seen as a 'significant issue when [an ethnicity] appears disproportionately over-represented'. But she also warned against this being used by a 'minority of people who pretend to be on the side of victims but are using them – and others who genuinely care about the plight of victims and the need for tougher action – to spread division and hate across communities'. Casey's report found that abused victims were considered wayward or even dubbed 'child prostitutes'. She said that the current law meant in many cases abusers received lesser charges in cases where children aged between 13 and 15 were seen to be 'in love' with the perpetrators. The law should be tightened to ensure there is no exception to those who sexually penetrate a child under 16 being charged with rape, she said. Casey said she believed the public would be horrified to realise this was not the case already. 'I believe many jaws across the country would drop if it was widely known that doing so is called anything but [rape],' the report said. Cooper has said this law will be changed as soon as possible. Above all, Casey said this was a recognition that victims should be treated as children, having been dismissed as promiscuous or wayward. She said they were 'ideal victims, ready to be tricked into thinking they are loved, worthy of their attention – before turning that against them'. She cited cases as recently as 2024 where victims were blamed for their actions – including where a judge in the case of a 13-year-old remarked that the girl 'appeared older than 13' and pointed out what he called her 'promiscuous behaviour'. Cooper said she would add another law change: any asylum seekers who are found guilty of grooming children or committing sexual offences will have their applications rejected. Cooper said more than 800 grooming and sexual exploitation cases will be reviewed – and she expects the figure to rise to more than 1000. In her report, Casey said every local police force in England and Wales should review records to identify cases of child sexual exploitation that have not been acted upon, including a review of cases that have been reported but which have not resulted in prosecutions over the last 10 years. She said there should also be a review of police and children's services records to identify children who have been at risk of or harmed by sexual exploitation over the last 10 years. Potential victims identified from police and children's services records should be approached and investigations taken forward on their behalf. Cooper said the government will ensure that convictions of the young victims, many of whom say they still face appalling discrimination because of their convictions, will be quashed. Casey cited police figures from the 1990s which found almost 4,000 police cautions were given to children between 10 and 18 for offences relating to prostitution. It took until 2015 for the term 'child prostitution' to be dropped and replaced with the term 'child sexual exploitation', when the legislation was changed in the Serious Crime Act. She said that victims had regularly been re-traumatised over the years, from the shame of their convictions and the anger and not being believed or living alongside their perpetrators. 'Sometimes they have criminal convictions for actions they took while under coercion,' Casey said. 'They have to live with fear and the constant shadow over them of an injustice which has never been righted – the shame of not being believed.'
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Dumbfounded': Dad who bought Vance Boelter's home stunned by connection to Minnesota murders
When 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter was identified by authorities as the suspect who gunned down two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota this past weekend - killing one and grievously wounding the other - tech executive Zachary Svendsen says he found himself 'dumbfounded.' Svendsen, his wife, and their young children now live in Boelter's former home in Saint Paul, having bought the 6-bed, 3.5-bath property a little over three years ago from the accused political assassin. 'It definitely did not make sense,' Svendsen told The Independent Monday. 'All in all, he was a really nice guy, from what I could tell. You could tell he had a good relationship with his kids. He seemed like a good husband, a good father.' Making matters even more surreal, Svendsen, 44, soon found his own address plastered all over the internet by armchair sleuths unaware that Boelter, a reported Trump-loving born-again Christian who railed against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, no longer lived there. 'I was concerned for my family, more than anything,' Svendsen went on. 'The things people put online are insane, so I was concerned about [misguided] retaliation from people out there.' Svendsen said he never got to know Boelter all that well, but that he would text occasionally, for example, when a piece of mail arrived for him at his old residence. Still, he conceded, seeing Boelter named as the shooter 'definitely was surprising… I was dumbfounded. It's all just super surprising.' In the early hours of Saturday morning, cops say Boelter – who was dressed in a police uniform and wore a mask, according to a probable cause affidavit unsealed Sunday night – fatally gunned down state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, at their home in Brooklyn Park. That was after Boelter showed up at the Champlin home of state Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and took aim at him and his wife, Yvette, who were shot nine times and eight times, respectively, but survived the ' politically motivated ' attack. Responding police officers in Brooklyn Park exchanged fire with Boelter, who managed to escape on foot, the probable cause affidavit states. It says a search of Boelter's Ford SUV, which he left behind when he fled the scene, turned up three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, as well as a 'hit list' of other public officials, many of whom are said to have been outspoken in their support for reproductive rights. Cops also reportedly found body armor, a gold police badge, and a Taser nearby. The Hortmans' dog, Gilbert, was shot in the attack and later had to be euthanized. 'We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark,' Yvette Hoffman said in a statement shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Sunday evening. 'We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate.' Following a two-day manhunt, which authorities described as the largest in Minnesota history, an armed Boelter was taken into custody in a wooded area near his home in Green Isle, about 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis. 'Thank you to all in law enforcement who worked relentlessly to locate and arrest this suspect,' Klobuchar posted on X after Boelter was arrested. 'It was a mammoth and heroic effort.' A father of five, Boelter has traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to preach, according to video posted online. The website for a security company called Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter as its 'director of security patrols,' and claims he has experience working in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, 'including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.' However, his LinkedIn profile shows jobs at, among other things, a sausage factory and a five-year stint as the general manager of a Minneapolis 7-Eleven. His most recent position, according to LinkedIn, was CEO of an entity called the Red Lion Group, whose website is defunct and whose activities are unclear. Whatever claims Boelter may have made about his resume, a longtime friend and occasional roommate said the idea of working in security was little more than a pipe dream. 'That was some fantasy,' his close friend David Carlson told Fox 9. 'There was talk about it, but there was no movement.' Last month, Boelter posted, 'Hi everyone! I'm looking to get back into the U.S. Food Industry and I'm pretty open to positions. Other Leadership positions outside of the Food Industry I'm willing to hear about as well.' Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz, who ran for vice-president in 2024 as a Democrat, described the shootings as 'an act of targeted political violence,' and vowed that justice 'will be served.' 'Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy,' said Walz, who described Hortman the 'most consequential' statehouse speaker in Minnesota history. 'We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.' Boetler now faces state murder charges and federal stalking charges.
