Mother of toddler saw her father shaking him before fatal collapse, court told

The mother of a toddler who was allegedly murdered by his grandparents told police she saw her father shake him an hour before his fatal collapse, 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.

At Mold Crown Court on Thursday, the jury in their trial heard transcripts of police interviews with Ethan’s mother, Shannon Ives, 28, who is accused along with her parents of causing or allowing his death and of child cruelty.

Crying

Shannon Ives told officers her father had taken Ethan into the back garden of their home in Garden City, where she had been staying with her son, on the evening of August 14 2021.

She said: “Ethan started crying and then Michael grabbed Ethan by the arms and just shook him.”

She added: “He cried then Michael told him to shut up.”

The court has heard Ethan suffered a catastrophic head injury caused by deliberate use of force which may have included an element of forceful shaking.

Shannon Ives told officers she told her father to stop shaking her son but he “wouldn’t listen” to her.

“I was petrified, I am petrified, I still am to this day petrified,” she said in interview.

She said about an hour later she was upstairs when she was shouted by her mother and went down to see Ethan in her father’s arms.

She was told the toddler had collapsed, she said.

Severely underweight

She said: “I’ve immediately said to my mum ‘ring an ambulance’. They were like ‘oh leave it five or 10 minutes just in case he comes back round again’.”

Shannon Ives accepted to police she should have got help for her son, who the court heard was severely underweight and “covered in bruises” when he died.

She said: “I know I should have done something but you don’t understand the situation I was in.”

She said she would be “controlled” and “threatened”.

She told officers she cancelled appointments with the health visitor because of her parents and lied to a social worker who came to the house, telling him Ethan was asleep so he could not be seen.

She said: “I was scared.”

She told officers she was unable to raise concerns with professionals because her parents were always there.

In interview, she said her father would make Ethan stand in the corner of the room with his hands on his head for up to two hours as a punishment.

Slapped

She said it happened “every day” in the three weeks they were staying with her parents, and Ethan would be slapped if he moved.

She said her mother had also done this to Ethan.

Asked how she would describe that, she said: “Physical abuse.”

The court has heard Michael and Kerry Ives blame their daughter for Ethan’s death.

The couple, 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.