Hard-to-watch video shows 2yo being abused days before he was murdered by grandparents

A little boy who weighed just 10kg was “brutally” abused by his grandparents before suffering a “catastrophic” injury that ended his life.

Warning: Distressing

A series of shocking videos show the disturbing moment a grandad is seen hauling his two-year-old grandson through the backyard and bundling him into a car – just days before the little boy’s heartbreaking death.

Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, were found guilty of murder at Mold Crown Court after their grandson, Ethan Ives-Griffiths, collapsed at their home.

Ethan was dangerously dehydrated and severely underweight while staying with his grandparents.

After collapsing on the evening of August 14, 2021, he was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered Ethan had recently sustained a ”catastrophic” head injury.

The young boy tragically died two days later in hospital.

After a month-long court case, during which grandfather Michael admitted in court to being “cruel and neglectful to the toddler”, the pair have both been convicted of the boy’s horrific death, The Sun reports.

Ethan’s mother Shannon Ives was also convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child and child cruelty after the jury determined she did nothing to prevent her Ethan’s suffering.

Harrowing video footage, collected over a period of weeks, was played in court that showed Michael aggressively dragging his grandson around the backyard by the upper arm at the home in Garden City, Wales.

Michael can also be seen shoving the underweight toddler into the back seat of a car and appears to strike the tot in one clip, filmed on August 12, 2021, while Ethan’s grandmother watches on.

Ethan Ives-Griffiths, 2, died after suffering a ‘catastrophic’ blow to the head. Picture: Wales Police

The court heard Ethan was made to stand with his hands on his head as a cruel punishment when he misbehaved.

Shannon, 28, had been staying with her son at her parents’ home after fleeing domestic abuse, with the court hearing how the toddler was “targeted for abuse and subjected to casual cruelty”.

An upsetting video from August 4 shows the underfed and dehydrated youth wandering through the garden of the property looking dazed before being grabbed by his grandad and hauled into the air.

Further footage, filmed on August 4, shows Michael grabbing the youth from a trampoline in the back garden and hauling him back into the house.

Ethan is once again lifted clean off the ground and violently dragged around by his abusive grandad.

Distressing footage of the two-year-old in the days before his murder shows he was subjected to ‘cruel’ abuse at the hands of his grandparents. Picture: Wales Police

One video clip from the home, shot on August 12, shows the tragic tot being shoved through the garden gate by his grandad as his grandmother stares at her phone, uncaring of the abuse her grandson is suffering.

Ethan is then bundled into a waiting car and disappears from view but grandad Michael can be seen and appears to wrestle with Ethan on the back seat.

Michael then makes several violent, sudden motions with his arm which look to be blows aimed at the weak two-year-old.

Another clip seen in court showed Michael lifting the toddler clean off the ground after violently gripping the youth’s upper arm.

Shannon’s parents accused her of hitting her son, with Michael Ives telling the jury his daughter was “quick-tempered” and would slap Ethan a couple of times a day.

Shannon told the court her parents were “horrible” and abused her as a child, The Sun reported.

His grandfather, Michael Ives, 47, has just been found guilty of the boy’s murder. Picture: Wales Police

Grandmother Kerry Ives was also convicted of killing the little boy. Picture: Wales Police

Young Ethan was described as “painfully thin” and had 40 injuries on his body when he was examined by doctors.

Michael and Kerry were in the living room with Ethan when he collapsed, but it took 18 minutes for emergency services to be called after the tot fainted. It was Ethan’s grandmother who eventually made the call for help.

Michael Ives denied he or his wife Kerry inflicted a severe head injury on Ethan before he collapsed at their home.

But following the little boy’s death, the grandfather accepted in court that he neglected Ethan and that the way he carried him, by his upper arm, was cruel. He denied mistreating the toddler in other ways.

Jurors were visibly upset at points during the gruelling five-and-a-half week trial after watching extensive footage of the abuse Ethan suffered.

The court heard Ethan had been placed on the child protection register, requiring him to be seen every 10 days.

When Shannon last saw her social worker, on August 5, she spoke to him on the doorstep and told him Ethan was having a nap.

No-one answered the door when social worker Michael Cornish went to visit in the days before Ethan’s death.

Ethan weighed just 10kg at the time of his death. Picture: Wales Police

His body was covered in bruises and injuries. Picture: Wales Police

Mother Shannon was found guilty of allowing a child to die after she did nothing while he was abused. Picture: Wales Police

Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, described the way Michael carried Ethan around the home and garden “as though Ethan was just a bag of rubbish to be slung out”.

Doctors found abdominal injuries on Ethan’s body which are believed to have been inflicted on the tot in the days before his death.

The tragic tot was also found with other injuries including bruises which were consistent with grip marks on his leg and face.

Experts said Ethan would have died of dehydration within days if he didn’t suffer the head injury.

At the time of his death the tot weighed just 10kg.

Detective Superintendent Chris Bell said Ethan was singled out and “casually and brutally assaulted”.

He said: “It is beyond comprehension how anybody could treat a human being like that, let alone a defenceless two-year-old who you should be caring for.”

The jury deliberated for six hours and 54 minutes before returning their verdicts on Tuesday morning.

Mr Justice Griffiths said Michael Ives and Kerry Ives would be given life sentences while Shannon Ives faced a “substantial prison sentence”.

The defendants will be sentenced on October 3.

An estimated 2.7 million Australians aged 18 years and over, around one in seven, have experienced childhood abuse, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Research shows most people who experienced childhood abuse knew the perpetrator with people who witnessed parental violence during childhood found to be more than twice as likely to experience partner violence as an adult (25 per cent) compared with those who did not witness parental violence during childhood (9.3 per cent).

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Hard-to-watch video shows 2yo being abused days before he was murdered by grandparents