## Grandparents and Mother Stand Trial Following Toddler’s Tragic Death in Garden City
Mold Crown Court has heard harrowing details in the ongoing murder trial concerning the death of two-year-old Ethan Ives-Griffiths. Both the toddler’s grandparents, Michael and Kerry Ives, along with his mother, Shannon Ives, deny a range of charges including murder, cruelty, and causing or allowing the death of a child. The child, described as ‘much-loved’, died in August 2021 after collapsing at his grandparents’ Garden City residence, in a case that has gripped North Wales.
The court was told that Ethan died shortly after being taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Merseyside, following what was described as a rapidly deteriorating condition. His family—grandfather Michael Ives, 47, grandmother Kerry Ives, 46, and mother Shannon Ives, 28—entered not guilty pleas to all charges. The prosecution alleges that the young child suffered repeated physical harm in the days leading up to his passing.
During the twelfth day of the trial, jurors listened to police interviews in which Michael Ives offered distressing testimony about the young boy’s final weekend. Michael claimed that just before Ethan took ill on Saturday 14 August, he noticed a mark had appeared on the toddler’s eyelid. According to his police statement, Michael accused his daughter, Shannon, of inflicting the injury, telling officers he was certain “she had given him a crack”—a claim Shannon denied, stating the mark “just appeared”.
In a detailed account of the preceding Friday, Michael recounted that he had been rolling a cigarette when he heard a sudden bang. Turning, he saw Ethan collapsed and limp on the living room rug, while Shannon was upstairs at the time. Michael’s response was to carry the child outside for fresh air and to dampen his face, after which, he said, Ethan seemed to recover.
The jurors also heard that despite these worrying episodes—where Ethan’s legs ‘went’ and he fell over, and the unexplained mark on his eyelid—no medical help was sought until it was too late. Michael said he and Kerry later took Ethan shopping, apparently to “keep an eye on him”, and observed that he appeared fine during the outing.
Central to Michael Ives’ police interview were allegations about his daughter’s treatment of Ethan. He alleged that Shannon would physically punish her son frequently, claiming she struck him “three, four or five times a day” out of frustration when she “couldn’t cope with the crying.” Michael told officers he frequently urged her to use gentler discipline, voicing concern that aggression would only worsen things.
Shannon Ives, for her part, has maintained that Ethan was “never left alone” under her supervision and expressed confusion about how he was injured. Despite the family’s testimony, the case raises uncomfortable questions about safeguarding and the duty of care owed to all vulnerable children.
Ethan’s grandmother, Kerry Ives, also gave evidence to police in which she expressed regret for not calling emergency services sooner after the child collapsed for a second time on the night of 14 August. She admitted Facetiming another daughter, Nicole, before summoning an ambulance, stating: “I froze. I was confused.” Kerry’s explanation alluded to the emotional chaos of the moment, but she acknowledged the delay may have been a critical error.
Kerry told investigators that she noticed a frog-like sound as Ethan struggled to breathe and that his appearance reminded her of deceased relatives. The 20-minute wait to call for help, and whether it could have changed the outcome, remains a focus of the trial as the Crown seeks to establish whether there was any opportunity for intervention that could have saved Ethan’s life.
The trial, which continues, has heard deeply emotional accounts from all parties. The coming evidence will play a pivotal role in determining responsibility for this deeply upsetting death. The tragedy has highlighted the devastating consequences of safeguarding failures and the importance of vigilance when it comes to child welfare. The court is expected to hear further evidence from medical experts and social services officials in the days ahead.