They murdered innocent two-year-old grandson and then told lie after lie

CCTV from the family home was played, showing Michael Ives carrying his grandson by the top of his arm and appearing to punch him after putting him into a car seat.

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The court heard Ethan had been placed on the child protection register, requiring him to be seen every 10 days, but when Shannon Ives 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, and a scheduled appointment with a health visitor on August 13 was cancelled.

Shannon Ives had fled domestic violence from her home in Mold in June that year, the jury was told.

Her 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.

But Shannon Ives told the court her parents were "horrible" and abused her as a child.

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

CCTV footage from August 4 showed Michael Ives carrying his grandson by the top of his arm in a way that Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, described as "as though Ethan was just a bag of rubbish to be slung out."