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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Final days of little boy with 'killer grandparents' before they 'murdered him while his mother was upstairs' is shown to jury
The final days of a two-year-old boy who was allegedly murdered by his grandparents while his mother was upstairs have been shown to a jury. Ethan Ives-Griffiths was caught on camera with his grandparents at Broughton Retail Park on August 13, 2021, just days before he collapsed and died. The toddler can be seen sitting in the child seat of a shopping trolley, which is being pushed along. Ethan was described as being 'severely underweight and covered in bruises' when he was found injured at the family home and later died on August 16, 2021. The young boy was taken from his grandparents' house in Garden City, North Wales, to Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital but died from 'catastrophic' head injuries. Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, are on trial accused of murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child - which they deny. They blamed Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, 28, but the prosecution said she was out of the room and not responsible for the fatal injuries. Ms Ives, 28, is charged with causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child. She also denies the charges. Today, jurors at Mold Crown Court heard messages had been exchanged between Ethan's mother and social workers in the weeks prior to his death. Ms Ives had been informed by a Flintshire social worker that Ethan would need to be seen every ten days because he was placed on the child protection register on July 6. Jurors were shown CCTV footage of a visit to the house by a social worker on August 5, 2021. In evidence, DC Lee Harshey-Jones of North Wales Police's major incident team outlined phone messages between the Ives family. He told the jury that in one Shannon Ives had complained her son 'just won't listen, as usual'. DC Harshey-Jones was also questioned by the prosecutor about a text allegedly from Shannon Ives to a health visitor on August 13, 2021, claiming Ethan was 'really poorly, I can't leave him.' After this text, CCTV at the family home showed him placed in a car seat. The car was then seen at a retail park. The jury heard details of text messages sent by members of the Ives family to each other. In one, Kerry Ives claimed they had been called 'child beaters'. Kerry Ives also wrote in a message: 'I used to get hit every day by my mum and dad.' The jury were also shown footage of two older children being allowed to hit him on the head while his grandfather watched. It also showed another child put his foot on the two-year-old's head while they were on a trampoline and Mr Ives turn a hosepipe on him for eight seconds as he lay face down on the trampoline. Opening the case last week, prosecuting KC Caroline Rees told the jury that Ethan was two years and three months old when he died in a Liverpool hospital on August 16, 2021. 'Ethan, come on,' a male voice was heard saying during a 999 call to the ambulance service. The recording was played to the jury. His grandmother had claimed: 'He's been watching telly and fell to the floor. His body has gone all limp.' He was described as a quiet boy and, as a result of neglect, 'painfully thin.' The youngster's time at his grandparents' home was 'thoroughly miserable,' the KC alleged. 'He was targeted by the defendants as an object of abuse and neglect.' Ethan had collapsed at the family home on the night of August 14, 2021. The grandparents were in the room, the jury heard. A post-mortem examination showed Ethan had 40 different injuries on his body, including a swollen brain and numerous trauma injuries to his head and abdomen, the court heard. There were cuts, grazes and bruises, the prosecution said. Another doctor felt the combination of injuries was consistent with 'shaken baby syndrome.' A CT scan showed a significant bleed on the brain, the prosecutor said. The prosecutor alleged Ethan was 'shown vanishingly little care by Kerry and Shannon and experienced casual brutality'. The trial judge Mr Justice Griffiths told the jury: 'You must keep an open mind until the very end of the case.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Boy, two, was placed on the child protection register month before 'he was murdered by his grandparents while his mother was upstairs', court hears
A two-year-old boy was placed on the child protection register a month before his death, a court heard today. Ethan Ives-Griffiths was described as being 'severely underweight and covered in bruises' when he was found injured at the family home on August 16, 2021. The young boy was taken from his grandparents' house in Garden City, North Wales, to Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital but died from 'catastrophic' head injuries. Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, are on trial accused of murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child - which they deny. They blamed Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, 28, but the prosecution said she was out of the room and not responsible for the fatal injuries. Ms Ives, 28, is charged with causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child. She also denies the charges. Today, jurors at Mold Crown Court heard messages had been exchanged between Ethan's mother and social workers in the weeks prior to his death. Ms Ives had been informed by a Flintshire social worker that Ethan would need to be seen every ten days because he was placed on the register on July 6. Grandfather Michael Ives, 46, (pictured left) and grandmother Kerry Ives, 45, (pictured right) are accused of murdering their grandson as well as assault and neglect Jurors were shown CCTV footage of a visit to the house by a social worker on August 5, 2021. In evidence, DC Lee Harshey-Jones of North Wales Police's major incident team outlined phone messages between the Ives family. He told the jury that in one Shannon Ives had complained her son 'just won't listen, as usual.' There was a 'catastrophic head and brain injury,' the jury heard. A Home Office pathologist saw 40 injuries on the body, it was alleged. There were cuts, grazes and bruises, the prosecution said. Another doctor felt the combination of injuries was consistent with 'shaken baby syndrome.' Opening the case last week, prosecuting KC Caroline Rees told the jury that Ethan was two years and three months old when he died in a Liverpool hospital on August 16, 2021. He was described as a quiet boy and, as a result of neglect, 'painfully thin.' The youngster's time at his grandparents' home was 'thoroughly miserable,' the KC alleged. 'He was targeted by the defendants as an object of abuse and neglect.' Ethan had collapsed at the family home on the night of August 14, 2021. The grandparents were in the room, the jury heard. A CT scan showed a significant bleed on the brain, the prosecutor said. The jury heard about a text message in the run up to the tragedy from Kerry Ives to a family member in which she claimed they'd been called 'child beaters' by him. Kerry Ives also wrote in a message: 'I used to get hit every day by my mum and dad.' DC Harshey-Jones was questioned by the prosecutor about a text allegedly from Shannon Ives to a health visitor on August 13, 2021, claiming Ethan was 'really poorly, I can't leave him.' After this text, CCTV at the family home showed him placed in a car seat. The car was then seen at Broughton retail park. At a previous hearing, the prosecutor alleged Ethan was 'shown vanishingly little care by Kerry and Shannon and experienced casual brutality'. The trial judge Mr Justice Griffiths told the jury: 'You must keep an open mind until the very end of the case.'
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Couple subjected grandson to ‘pain and misery' before his murder, court told
A 'withdrawn' and painfully thin' toddler was subjected to 'distress, pain and misery' in the weeks before he was murdered by his grandparents, a court has heard. Kerry Ives, 46, and her husband Michael, 47, are accused of the murder of their two-year-old grandson Ethan Ives-Griffiths, who died in hospital on August 16 2021 after an ambulance was called to their home in Deeside, Flintshire, two days earlier. Mold Crown Court heard the couple blamed his death on their daughter, Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, who is accused along with her parents of causing or allowing his death and of child cruelty. At the opening of their trial on Wednesday, a jury was told Shannon Ives, 28, and her son had been living with her parents in the time leading up to his death. Caroline Rees KC said: 'The prosecution say Ethan's time at the first and second defendants' home was thoroughly miserable and he was targeted by the defendants as an object of abuse and neglect.' She added: 'He was quiet and withdrawn, small and painfully thin.' She said the toddler was exposed to 'casual brutality' and, according to a medical expert, would have experienced 'distress, pain and misery in the days and weeks prior to his death'. On the night of August 14, Ethan was downstairs with his grandparents while his mother was upstairs on the phone at the time he sustained his fatal injury, the court heard. Ms Rees said: 'The prosecution say what must have been a forceful attack on Ethan that night was the culmination of physical and emotional neglect and abuse upon him by those who should have cared for him the most.' Both Michael and Kerry Ives told police their grandson had collapsed suddenly. Ms Rees said: 'The prosecution say these two defendants entered a pact of silence as to what they did to Ethan that night, immediately working together as a team of two to conceal the truth about the reason for his fatal collapse.' She said the grandparents had chosen to 'blame their own daughter' rather than admit what really happened. 'They say it must have been Shannon Ives who inflicted the injuries which led to Ethan's death,' she said. Ms Rees said Shannon Ives was aware her parents 'represented a significant risk of physical harm' but 'took no steps to protect her child'. In interview, she said she was scared of her parents and knew them to be abusive, the court heard. Ms Rees said: 'She had seen them shaking Ethan in anger on many occasions. She said she was petrified of her father in particular.' The court heard Kerry Ives delayed calling 999 for almost 20 minutes after Ethan's collapse, before making the call at 9.21pm. Ethan was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital and then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital for brain surgery, but was pronounced dead at 6pm on August 16. He had 'serious, catastrophic head injuries' and found to be 'severely underweight' and 'covered in bruises', the court heard. The jury was told he weighed 10kg, or 22lb, when he died and at a post-mortem examination 40 external injuries were observed. Medical evidence showed his fatal head injury was caused by deliberate use of force which may have included an element of forceful shaking, Ms Rees said. Abdominal injuries consistent with forceful blows were also found, the court heard. CCTV footage taken from outside the family home in the weeks before his death showed his mother 'standing by, totally unconcerned whilst Ethan was ill-treated and handled by her father in a totally inhumane way', Ms Rees said. In clips shown to the court, Michael Ives could be seen carrying his grandson by the top of his arm, 'dangling him like a rag doll' and appearing to hit out at him after putting him into the backseat of a car. Another clip showed Ethan on a trampoline, where Michael Ives was seen to put the toddler's hands on his head – a technique Ms Rees said was used 'to discipline' the child. Ms Rees said: 'We say that footage can properly be described as harrowing, with a view into how traumatic the last weeks of Ethan's life must have been.' Michael and Kerry Ives, of Kingsley Road, Garden City, deny murder, an alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16. Shannon Ives, of Nant Garmon, Mold, denies causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16. The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, will continue on Monday.
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Flintshire toddler death: Grandparents on trial accused of murder
A couple accused of murdering their two-year-old grandson, who died from a catastrophic brain injury, treated him with "casual brutality", a court has Ives Griffiths was discovered "severely underweight, covered in bruises", after he was allegedly murdered by his grandparents, Michael and Kerry Ives in Garden City, Flintshire, on 16 August Ives, 46, and Mrs Ives, 45, are charged with murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a child - which they their trial at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, the prosecutor said the other children had been encouraged to mistreat Ethan as "play". Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, 28, of Mold, Flintshire, is charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a child. She also denied the charges. The court heard Ethan, his mother Shannon, and some of her other children were living with her parents in the summer of the prosecution's case, Caroline Rees KC said: "[Ethan] was quiet and withdrawn, small and painfully thin", by the time of his was targeted as an object of "abuse and neglect," and in the run-up to his death, experienced "distress, pain and misery".He collapsed on 14 August, 2021 after a "forceful attack" by those that should have cared for him most, the jury was told. The prosecution said Mr and Mrs Ives were the only ones with him when he was assaulted, and his mother Shannon was upstairs on her mother is not charged with murder, but the prosecution claimed she was aware he was at risk, and "did nothing to protect him from that risk".Following the assault, his grandparents entered "a pact of silence as to what they did to Ethan that night".They chose instead, to blame their daughter, the court Rees added: "They both had something serious to hide, namely that they were both involved in causing his death."She said Ethan was the victim of an assault on a "vulnerable, defenceless child," and added he was "treated with casual brutality by the people trusted to protect him."The trial continues.
