How CCTV exposed lies of couple who murdered their grandson

Two-year-old Ethan Ives-Griffiths arrived at hospital covered in bruises, thin and malnourished, and with a severe brain injury.

There was nothing more the medical team could do to save him so, two days later on 16 August 2021, his life-support machine was turned off.

It would be nearly four years before what happened to Ethan was finally revealed in what senior detectives described as one of the most difficult investigations they had ever faced.

"What happened, happened behind closed doors," said Det Supt Chris Bell from North Wales Police.

"Nobody has been prepared to tell the truth."

Warning: This article contains details that readers may find distressing.

Over the course of more than a month, jurors at Mold Crown Court learned how Ethan came to die.

Shockingly, it was at the hands of his own grandfather Michael Ives, with Ethan's grandmother Kerry making a pact with her husband to hide what happened.

On Tuesday, the pair were found guilty of murder and child cruelty.

Ethan's mother Shannon Ives also played her role, with the jury deciding she did nothing to prevent her son's death and, in her own way, was just as responsible for the cruelty he suffered.

She was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child and child cruelty.

Ethan went to live with his grandparents towards the end of June 2021 after a domestic dispute which saw Shannon separate from her son's father, Will Griffiths.

A few weeks later, Shannon also moved in with her parents at their home on Kingsley Road in Garden City, Flintshire.

Kerry Ives told her trial that Ethan was a "a bubbly little child" and "chubby" when he arrived in their home, but that all changed over the next two months.

By the time Ethan was taken to hospital on the night of 14 August, he was painfully thin.

Doctors discovered he was covered in bruises and injury marks - 40 in total - as well as being dangerously dehydrated, with cracked, dry lips.

The jury heard nursing staff thought Ethan looked "very malnourished" with paediatric nurse Antonia Chaddar telling them he "seemed like a child that hadn't been looked after".

She added: "He had a pot belly you would see in very malnourished children. I see a lot of children who are ill and they don't look like that."

Medical evidence also revealed the true extent of the head injuries suffered by Ethan.

Paediatric neurosurgeon at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, Jayaratnam Jayamohan, said the whole of Ethan's brain was very swollen and he was essentially "having a stroke to a whole half of his brain".

He told the trial any operation to save Ethan would have been "hopeful" at best and he was "probably going to die".

"Sadly, everything was stacked against him by this point."

Asked how the fatal injury suffered by Ethan would have been caused, Mr Jayamhohan said there were two potential explanations.

Either Ethan had been subjected to an impact or "physical contact" such as a fist, hand or knee, or he could have been "shaken vigorously".

It was the job of North Wales Police's major incident team to find out who was responsible - and their focus was on Ethan's grandparents and mother.

Det Supt Bell said it was clear that the fatal injury Ethan suffered was no accident, and all the medical evidence pointed towards an almost instantaneous act.

They were also able to confirm that Ethan's mother Shannon had been upstairs on her phone at the time Ethan collapsed.

"The only people that were inside that room - and it's not in doubt, it's from their own evidence themselves - was Kerry and Michael," said Det Supt Bell.

He said he was convinced that the couple "developed a pact" between themselves to hide the truth, with an ambulance not called for nearly 20 minutes after Ethan collapsed.

"I think Kerry has stuck to a pact to defend Michael and only she can answer why that might be."

Both Kerry and Michael Ives denied they were responsible.

"I loved him," claimed Michael Ives in court.

When his wife was pressed, she told the jury: "It wasn't me or Michael."

Asked who it could have been, Kerry Ives responded: "Nobody."

During the trial, both grandparents attempted to deflect blame to their daughter, claiming she was quick tempered and would hit Ethan - an allegation she rejected.

Shannon Ives said she blamed her father Michael for Ethan's death, telling the court that she hated him and was scared of him.

While blame was being thrown everywhere by the Ives, the investigation team had crucial evidence - the family home was covered by CCTV cameras.

It was this footage that was critical to showing how Ethan was treated - in particular by Michael Ives.

"We had around 1,100 hours of footage from three different cameras front and back, 24 hours a day, that gave us a real insight, a detailed high-definition insight into what was happening to Ethan," explained Det Con Lee Harshey-Jones.

"The CCTV clearly shows Michael Ives was the main physical abuser of Ethan."

Ethan is seen being placed or taken from the family car by his grandfather, held by just one arm.

It happened repeatedly, including harrowing footage of Ethan being pulled from a trampoline in the back garden and carried the length of the lawn by one arm.

"You held him like a rag doll, didn't you," barrister Gordon Cole KC asked Ives.

He replied: "Yeah."

Asked why he had carried him in that way, he said: "No reason. There's no excuse, I know."

Quizzed in court, Michael Ives admitted being "cruel and neglectful" but claimed he was "ashamed" about how he was captured carrying Ethan.

Other CCTV showed Ethan stood with his hands on his head, which the court was told was a hallmark punishment from his grandfather.

Shannon Ives told police Ethan would be made to stand in the corner of the room for up to two hours by her father and slapped if he moved.

All three, under oath and in front of the jury, accepted more should have been done to get Ethan help and protect him.

"I should've done more," agreed Michael Ives.

"Contacted the social worker, got him to a doctor's, got him checked."

Kerry Ives told the jury she regretted that she and Shannon did nothing to protect Ethan from Michael Ives "every day".

"I regret I didn't do more for the baby," she said.

The trial also heard how help was thwarted at every turn.

Ethan had been placed on a child protection register, which meant he should have been seen every 10 days by a social worker.

He was seen just once towards the end of July at the Ives' home, where it was noted he was a "small two-year-old boy who was quite shy".

A return visit was booked for 5 August, but the social worker was turned away on the doorstep and told the household was isolating due to Covid, and Ethan was asleep.

Another visit was booked for 12 August, but no-one answered the door or phone calls.

Quizzed in court Shannon Ives admitted these excuses were lies and that if social workers had seen "how skinny he was" then Ethan would have been taken into care.

A day later, events began to spiral out of control and a final opportunity to save Ethan was lost.

The toddler collapsed for the first time on 13 August, becoming unresponsive for at least five minutes before recovering.

Instead of seeking medical help, Ethan was taken shopping.

His mother also cancelled an appointment for a health visitor to see him the same day.

The next evening, the Ives were dialling 999 as Ethan lay motionless on the living room floor again.

This time he never recovered.

The convictions mark the end of what police have described as an emotional investigation.

DC Harshey-Jones said it had affected the entire team: "I can't just leave it in the office and forget about it for the weekend. I'll take it home with me in my mind.

"It won't be a case I'll be able to forget easily."

"I personally feel very proud that we were able to do that for Ethan. He had his life ahead of him and he didn't deserve any of what happened to him."

Det Supt Bell said Michael and Kerry Ives stuck to their pact of silence and had shown no remorse, which he said left him "numb".

"It should have been the safest place for Ethan. It should have been somewhere he can be loved, where he can express himself, where he can develop a safe space to have fun," he said.

"It wasn't the case. In fact it appears he was treated completely differently to everyone else and only Michael and Kerry can answer as to why that was."

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