His mum Shannon Ives has also been found guilty of child cruelty

Michael and Kerry Ives, the grandparents of two-year-old Ethan Ives-Griffiths, who died two days after he collapsed at their home, have been found guilty of murder.

They were also found guilty of child cruelty, while with Shannon Ives, Ethan’s mother, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a child under 16

Ethan Ives-Griffiths collapsed with a fatal head injury at the Flintshire home of his grandparents and died two days later on August 16, 2021.

He was severely underweight and dehydrated when he died, with 40 visible marks on his body, a more than five-week trial at Mold Crown Court heard

The two-year-old was said to have been subjected to “distress, pain and misery” in the weeks before his death. Michael and Kerry Ives, both of Kingsley Road, Garden City, but originally from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, denied the murder of Ethan, an alternative count of causing or allowing his death and cruelty to a child under the age of 16.

His mum, Shannon Ives, of Rhes-y-Cae, near Holywell, who was living with her parents at the time, denied causing or allowing his death and child cruelty. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here

Watch Michael Ives’ police interview below:

During the trial jurors were shown CCTV from outside the home of Michael Ives carrying the youngster by the top of his arm. Ethan was with his grandparents in the living room on August 14, 2021, while his mother was upstairs on the phone, the court heard.

Michael, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, claimed nothing happened in the moments before Ethan collapsed, but medical experts told the court they believed his head injury was caused by deliberate use of force, which might have included forceful shaking.

“Overwhelming expert evidence” suggested the fatal injury was caused within minutes of his collapse, claimed the prosecution.

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