A two-year-old toddler was beaten, starved, and murdered by his own grandparents in a case that even left detectives and the judge shaken.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths was killed by his grandparents, Michael and Kerry Ives, at their home in Garden City, Flintshire, in August 2021. The abuse the young child was subjected to left him with bruises and severely emaciated.
His mother, Shannon Ives, was convicted of causing or allowing his death and child cruelty.
This week, the grandparents were given life sentences with minimum terms of 23 years for Michael, 17 years for Kerry, while Shannon was handed a 12-year sentence.
Shannon moved in with her parents in 2021, along with her children, after splitting from her partner.
Ethan would die seven weeks later after sustaining a brain injury at the hands of one or both of his grandparents.
Investigators found that Ethan has 40 other injuries on his body, and that he was also severely dehydrated and malnourished.
Social workers were denied access to Ethan despite visiting the home. He was on the child protection register, meaning he needed to be seen every 10 days.
On the final visit to the home, the social worker stayed there for 45 minutes but had to wait outside due to Covid rules. They were again denied access to Ethan.
This visit occurred just 11 days before Ethan died.
Det Con Harshey-Jones of North Wales Police watched over 1,000 hours of CCTV footage outside the home.
He described the appalling nature of the abuse.
He said: “It gave us a real insight, particularly [into] Michael Ives, how he was willing and happy to treat Ethan,” he said.
“I remember sitting there, watching it for the first time, and being shocked and appalled by what I saw.
“It was a huge moment for the investigation.”
Shocking footage showed Ethan being forced into stress positions, such as keeping his hands on his head. On another occasion, a child was seemingly encouraged to hit Ethan on the head.
Some of the evidence in the case was so horrific that the judge excused the jurors from ever having to serve on a jury again.
Prosecutor Nicola Rees said: “The level of injury and the level of cruelty is probably some of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
He also described how medical professionals were reduced to tears when giving evidence because of the harrowing injuries inflicted upon Ethan.
Lead investigator Det Con Lee Harshey-Jones added: “All of us involved in this investigation… will always find it difficult to think about. We’ve all had to suffer.”
Judge, Mr Justice Griffiths, described the case as a “horrifying escalation of cruelty.”