Ethan Ives-Griffiths: Evil gran moans 'I can't do this' after killing toddler grandson

A twisted gran murdered her own grandson, then told a 999 operator: "I can't deal with this because I've got anxiety".

Kerry Ives has today been jailed alongside her husband, Michael Ives, after the couple were found guilty of killing their two-year-old grandson, Ethan Ives-Griffiths, after a campaign of horrific abuse.

Mr Ives has been sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison for Ethan's murder, and has also been given nine years for child cruelty, to be served concurrently. Mrs Ives will serve a minimum term of 17 years in custody for Ethan's murder, and has also been sentenced to six years for child cruelty, which will run concurrently.

The judge stated that he would impose a sentence of 12 years on Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, for allowing her son to die. On the count of child cruelty, the judge informed the court that the sentence would be five years, to run concurrently. Ms Ives was told she will serve two-thirds of her 12-year sentence behind bars, before being released on licence.

Little Ethan died two days after suffering a fatal head injury at his grandparents' home in Flintshire, North Wales, in August 2021. The court heard that his cruel grandmother delayed calling 999 for almost 20 minutes after he collapsed.

The helpless toddler was found to have sustained "serious, catastrophic head injuries" and was also "severely underweight" and "covered in bruises". Medical evidence showed that Ethan's horrific head injury was the result of deliberate use of force, which may have included an element of forceful shaking.

READ MORE: Family call for 'Ethan's Law' after toddler, 2, murdered by his grandparents

On August 13, the day before Ethan fatally collapsed, Michael Ives said he was in the living room when he heard a loud bang. He turned and saw Ethan "lying on the floor."

The child was lying still and "just staring" for a couple of minutes before he eventually came round and "seemed fine," the court heard.

Michael claimed he told Ethan's mum Shannon "we need to try and him to the doctor's." She said she would have phoned them, but there were no appointments.

They later took Ethan shopping but were pressed by the prosecution to explain why they felt that was a good idea. "Ethan wanted to come", Michael said.

Ethan had been watching television when he collapsed again on August 14. Kerry Ives said she shouted for Shannon to come downstairs to help, and she said she would be down "in two minutes" as she was on her phone.

Kerry said she swore at her daughter and said "never mind two minutes, he's your baby". Despite attempts to bring him round, Ethan never regained consciousness and died in Alder Hey Hospital two days later.

And now a harrowing 999 call has revealed how the Kerry attempted to cover her and her husband's tracks. She told the call operator: "He's been watching the telly and he fell to the floor and his granddad picked him up and tried to bring him around and he won't come around and his body's gone all in."

By this point, little Ethan was unresponsive, and Ives was given instructions as to how to resuscitate him and check his mouth for any blockages. Both she and her husband also claimed that the child's breathing appeared to be normal.

At one point in the call that Ives appeared to become agitated, stating, "I can't do this, I've got anxiety", as the operator worked to calm her down.

After Ethan's grandad returned from fetching a defibrillator as instructed by the operator, the couple both continued speaking on the loudspeaker, with Mr Ives claiming, "He just looks like he's asleep".

The deceitful couple could then be heard issuing words of encouragement to their unresponsive grandson, saying, "Come on, mate" and "Ethan, come on lad".

Later in the call, the operator enquired, "You mentioned this happened yesterday as well?" To this, the grandad replied: "Yeah, he was standing up yesterday playing, and then he just collapsed. He fell to the floor, and he was like this for about 30 minutes, and then he came round."

When pressed by the operator, the grandparents confirmed that Ethan wasn't checked over following his collapse the day prior. The boy's gran then told the operator that the ambulance had arrived, and could be heard appearing to plead with Ethan, telling him, "Come on, lad, you're scaring nan!"

During the trial, prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told the court: "The prosecution say what must have been a forceful attack on Ethan that night was the culmination of physical and emotional neglect and abuse upon him by those who should have cared for him the most.

"The prosecution say these two defendants entered a pact of silence as to what they did to Ethan that night, immediately working together as a team of two to conceal the truth about the reason for his fatal collapse."

Ms Rees went on to assert that Ethan's mother, Shannon Ives, who was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child and child cruelty, had been aware that her parents "represented a significant risk of physical harm" but "took no steps to protect her child". In an interview, Shannon stated she was scared of her parents and knew that they were abusive.

Horrifying CCTV images shown to the court showed the grandad, who'd attempted to push the blame on his daughter Shannon, grabbing Ethan by the arm and carrying him like a 'rag doll' toward a car, and dragging him through the garden.

Ms Rees continued: "She had seen them shaking Ethan in anger on many occasions. She said she was petrified of her father in particular."

Jurors heard that little Ethan was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital before being transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for brain surgery. Tragically, although attempts were made to resucitate him, he was pronounced dead at 6 pm on August 16.

The jury was told Ethan weighed just 10kg, or 22lb, when he died, and following a post-mortem examination, 40 external injuries were observed.

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

READ MORE: Horror moment grandad drags Ethan Ives-Griffiths 'like rag doll' before murder