How a toddler’s death in UK led to murder convictions for grandparents, mother

According to the BBC, Ethan died on 16 August 2021 after suffering a “catastrophic” head injury while staying at the Garden City, Flintshire home of his grandparents.

Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, were convicted of murder and child cruelty at Mold Crown Court. Ethan’s 28-year-old mother, Shannon Ives, was also found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child.

The court heard that Ethan was dangerously dehydrated, severely underweight, and had more than 40 visible bruises when he collapsed on 14 August. He never recovered.

Shannon Ives had been living with her son at her parents’ home at the time. Prosecutors told the court that the toddler had been “targeted for abuse and subjected to casual cruelty.”

Judge Griffiths told the grandparents, per BBC, “There is only one sentence for murder and that is life imprisonment. I have to consider the minimum term you must serve before you can be considered for release on licence, which is likely to be many years from now.”

He added that Shannon Ives also faced a “substantial prison sentence,” very likely to be immediate custody.

A 13-minute 999 call played in court revealed Kerry Ives claiming that Ethan had simply collapsed while watching TV. Michael Ives was heard in the background saying, “he looks like he’s asleep.” Paramedics arrived soon after, and Ethan was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where doctors found “multiple areas of bruises” on his body. He died two days later.

Chilling CCTV footage shown during the trial revealed Ethan struggling for balance and repeatedly falling while playing on a trampoline with other children. At one point, his own mother climbed on the trampoline, causing him to fall again.

All three will be sentenced on 3 October.