Grandparents accused of little boy's murder were 'horrible', mother tells court

A WOMAN whose two-year-old son was allegedly murdered by his grandparents has told a court her mother and father were "horrible

- By ELEANOR BARLOW

Shannon Ives, 28, is accused of causing or allowing the death of toddler Ethan Ives-Griffiths, who suffered a fatal head injury while they were staying with her parents Michael Ives, 47, and Kerry Ives, 46, in Garden City, Flintshire, in August 2021.

Giving evidence at Mold Crown Court yesterday, Shannon Ives was asked how her parents were while she was growing up.

She told the court: “They were horrible.”

Ives said the couple stopped her from “going out, having a normal life”, didn’t allow her many friends and were abusive to her and her siblings.

She said: “We would get punched, kicked. We would get a belt used on us.”

Shannon Ives told the court she left home at 16 after telling a counsellor in college her father was being abusive and calling her a slag.

She said she later moved back home after splitting up from a partner she had been living with and would sleep on a mattress in the dining room.