Grandparents ‘left boy, 2, so neglected he looked like 90-year-old before murdering him in brutal attack’
A COUPLE left their grandson so neglected he looked like a 90-year-old before they murdered him, a court heard.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths, two, suffered 40 different injuries after he was allegedly attacked by Michael Ives and Kerry Ives.
Jurors heard the lack of care he received was “grossly neglectful” and his treatment was tantamount to “humiliation”.
His weight was “dangerously” low and he looked emaciated with his rib bones clearly visible, it was said.
One paramedic called to the couple’s home in Deeside, North Wales, said Ethan “looked like a 90-year-old man with dark, recessed eyes”.
They had discovered the toddler collapsed on the floor in front of the sofa with three bruises in the shape of a hand.
Mold Crown Court heard the toddler had a long list of injuries to his head and neck including cuts to his jaw, mouth and neck.
Ethan had also suffered deep bruising to his jaw and his brain was swollen by a “direct force trauma” to his mouth.
The court heard this was the “culmination of emotional and physical abuse on him by people who should have cared for him most”.
Ethan had suffered a “thoroughly miserable” life and was allegedly an “object of abuse and neglect” for gran Kerry and mum Shannon Kayleigh Ives.
At the time of the horror in August 2021, his mum Shannon, 27, was upstairs on her phone.
Jurors heard there was a “pact of silence” by “team of two” Michael, 46, and Kerry, 45, to conceal the truth.
They both blamed their daughter for the violence and claimed she had “no patience” with Ethan.
But prosecutor Caroline Rees said all three were to blame for the cruelty inflicted on Ethan in his short life.
She added: “He was shown vanishingly little care by Kerry and Shannon and experienced casual brutality.
“He would have experienced pain and misery in the weeks before he died. He was severely underweight and covered in bruises.”
Michael and Kerry deny murder, assault and neglect, while Shannon has pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm.
The trial continues.