The aunt of a toddler murdered by his grandparents during the pandemic has told how she believes he would still be alive if his father had not been prevented from seeing him.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths, two, weighed just ten kilograms and had sustained more than 40 injuries to his body, as well as catastrophic brain trauma, when he died August 16, 2021.
His maternal grandparents, Michael Ives, 47, and his wife, Kerry, 46, were last month convicted of murder while his mother, Shannon, 28, was found guilty of allowing his death.
A post-mortem revealed little Ethan was so dehydrated and malnourished at the time of his death he would have passed away within ten days if he had not been fatally injured.
Now his paternal aunt, Rebecca Shone, is calling for the introduction of Ethan’s Law to increase powers of social services to conduct welfare checks on at-risk children, after workers failed to conduct scheduled visits in the weeks before his death.
‘Ethan was very happy, very cheerful all of the time,’ Ms Shone told the Mail. ‘His smile was gorgeous and his laugh would light up a room. And I like to think we had a lot to do with that.’
But things took a turn for the worse for Ethan after a domestic dispute between his mother and father, Will Griffiths, led to their separation amid allegations of coercive behaviour. No charges were ever brought.
Shannon then moved Ethan into her parents’ home in June 2021, just two months before he was fatally injured.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths, two, died on August 16, 2021 after suffering a catastrophic head injury at the hands of his grandparents
Ethan, pictured with his father Will Griffiths, died weighing just ten kilograms, severely malnourished and dehydrated, and with more than 40 visible injuries to his body
Michael Ives, 47, was convicted of murder at a trial in July, with distressing footage appearing to show him punch Ethan and spray a hose at him shown in court
Kerry Ives, 46, was also found guilty of the murder of her grandson after a five week trial
Ms Shone said: ‘Will always said he shouldn’t go there. They were not very nice people.
‘We understood that these people were not very good to be around a child, but you don’t sit there and think they will be the cause of his death.
‘I believe that if Will had still been able to see his kids then Ethan would still be alive.’
‘Painfully thin’ and malnourished Ethan suffered a catastrophic head injury before he collapsed at home in Flintshire, North Wales, on August 14 2021, while his mother Shannon was upstairs on the phone.
Distressing video footage recorded at the home before his death showed how Ethan’s grandfather callously lifted him across the ground by one arm like ‘a bag of rubbish’ in the days before his death.
Filmed just ten days before he would pass away on August 16, it showed him walking with a strange, knock-kneed gait and falling over, barely able to hold up his own head, as he was bounced on a trampoline by older children in the scruffy back garden of his grandparents’ home.
His grandfather was seen spraying Ethan with a hose and seeming to encourage another child to punch him.
Another video showed Ives carrying Ethan in a similar manner and placing him in the back of a car, before appearing to punch him twice in the stomach.
A post-mortem found more than 40 visible injuries on his tiny frame, including fingerprint-shaped marks to his face, bruising on his arms, legs and chest, a chipped tooth and tears to his mouth and lip, which had a large chunk missing.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths (pictured) was extremely malnourished before his murder
The toddler had been staying at his grandparents’ house in Garden City with his mother Shannon Ives (pictured)
CCTV footage from August 4 showed Michael Ives dragging Ethan across the back garden
Further CCTV footage showed Ethan being lifted into the back of a car by Michael before Ives appeared to punch him twice
Other more serious internal injuries, however, including bleeding in his abdomen and brain, most likely caused by shaking, were the ultimate cause of his death.
His aunt described how Mr Griffiths and his family were ‘devastated’ to learn of the loss of Ethan: ‘We had such a short amount of time with Ethan which was so unfortunate.
‘It was devastating, I can’t even put it into words how it affected us. It was just heart wrenching to see the impact [on Ethan’s father].
‘And of course Will hadn’t seen him for a number of weeks. They took away what were unfortunately his last weeks.’
It emerged in court that despite social services being highly aware of the risk to the youngster, he was seen just once in the 41 days before his death by a health professional or social worker.
This was in spite of Ethan being known to social services since his birth, and on a plan which meant he should have been seen in person once every ten days.
Social worker Michael Cornish saw Ethan on July 22, and he was not seen by a professional again until he sustained fatal injuries.
Shannon Ives last saw her social worker on August 5, when she spoke to him on the doorstep and told him Ethan was having a nap.
Serious internal injuries, including bleeding in his abdomen and brain, most likely caused by shaking, were the ultimate cause of Ethan’s death
Ethan’s father, William Griffiths, is pictured (centre) outside court after attending to hear today’s verdict
Ethan Ives-Griffiths was last seen with his family at Broughton Retail Park on August 13, 2021, just days before he collapsed and died. He is seen in the child seat of a shopping trolley
Nobody answered the door when Mr Cornish went back to visit in the days before Ethan’s death, and a scheduled appointment with a health visitor on August 13 was cancelled.
Ethan’s family have now set up a Change.org petition, which has so far garnered more than 30,000 signatures, calling for stricter checks on at-risk children to prevent future deaths.
Ms Shone said: ‘I don’t blame social services for Ethan’s death, I blame them for not doing their jobs.
‘It’s absolutely ridiculous that the individuals involved haven’t been held accountable.
‘They should have referred a welfare check to the police. They should have gone back [to the house] later that evening, the next day.
‘By the time the social services were doing their review the damage had already been done. It was a ticking time bomb for Ethan and it was unavoidable.’
The family want visits by social workers to be escalated to local police forces if they are refused entry or access to the child they are supposed to be visiting.
Their petition reads: ‘Right now, social workers can carry out home visits without a warrant, but if they are refused entry (as they were in Ethan’s case) they have no power to escalate it unless the situation appears visibly urgent.
‘We believe that must change. If entry is denied, the visit should automatically be escalated to the police for a welfare check. If this step is not taken, social workers must be held accountable for failing to follow protocol, especially when a child is already on the protection register.
‘We’re also calling for increased frequency of checks. For children on the register, visits should take place every 5-7 days, not every 10.
‘For children not yet on the register but known to services, we’re urging for checks every 4-6 weeks by health professionals such as health visitors or GPs. Regular, thorough monitoring of vulnerable children can help identify danger sooner, intervene earlier, and ultimately save lives.
‘We couldn’t save Ethan but we can honour him by making sure this never happens again.’
After Ethan’s grandparents were convicted of murder, his father Mr Griffiths said his son could ‘rest in peace’ now that ‘justice has been served’.
‘Unfortunately, I did not get much time with Ethan, but the time I did have was precious,’ he said. ‘He will never be forgotten and will always live on in our hearts and memories.
‘He will be remembered for the smiley, outgoing, loving child that he was.’
A spokesman for Flintshire Council said they were co-operating with the independent child practice review being carried out by the North Wales Safeguarding Board into Ethan’s case.
‘Ethan’s tragic death has shocked and appalled the community of Flintshire and it is inconceivable that his young life was taken by those who should have protected him,’ he said.
‘Our thoughts remain with all those who loved and supported Ethan during his short life.’
Mr Justice Martin Griffiths warned Michael and Kerry they would be jailed for life and Shannon was also looking at a ‘substantial’ prison term when he sentences them in October.
