Four children were 'petrified' before fatal petrol bomb attack that killed them, inquest hears

An inquest has heard that four siblings who died in a petrol bomb attack at their family home in Greater Manchester had been living in terror for weeks before the fatal blaze, with their mother repeatedly telling police and housing officials that she did not feel safe.

Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and her sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia, three, all lost their lives when their home on Jackson Street in Walkden was firebombed in December 2017. Their mother, Michelle Pearson, then 37, suffered catastrophic burns in the same attack and died 20 months later, in August 2019.

The hearing at Bolton Coroner's Court, which is expected to run for eight weeks, was told that the children had been deeply traumatised by a series of earlier attacks on their home, which had been daubed with graffiti and had its windows smashed on multiple occasions.

In a statement read to the court, relatives described how Michelle had been left "beyond distressed" by the escalating violence and had contacted police on five separate occasions in an effort to get help. Her son Kyle, who managed to escape the flames on the night of the attack, told the inquest in his own statement that "the police didn't do anything".

The inquest heard that just two weeks before the fatal firebombing, one of the men later convicted of the family's murder had used a hammer to smash the windows of the house, leaving broken glass scattered throughout the property.

Zak Bolland and David Worrall were jailed for life in 2018 for the murders of the four children. In 2021, the pair were also convicted of Michelle Pearson's murder. Bolland received a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years, while Worrall was handed life with a minimum of 37 years. Bolland's girlfriend at the time, Courtney Brierley, then 20, was sentenced to 21 years in prison after being convicted of four counts of manslaughter.

The court was told that Michelle had been desperate to leave the property but felt she had been "fobbed off" by officials. Her mother, Sandra Lever, said in a statement that her daughter had approached her social landlord to explain that she was in danger, only to be told that she did not meet the criteria for emergency housing.

"Michelle was beyond distressed," Lever said. "She was not eating. The children were petrified of living in Jackson Street."

Relatives also said the children were suffering from nightmares, and Brandon had told his grandmother that he no longer wanted to live in the house.

A neighbour, Elaine Williams, told the inquest that in the weeks leading up to the arson attack she had witnessed Bolland smashing the windows of the Pearson home with a hammer. Williams described how Michelle "wanted to move from there" and "wanted out", adding that she was "fed up of all the trouble" and that "her nerves were shot".

"She was at her wits' end," Williams said. "She was worried."

Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, opened proceedings by stressing that the inquest was "not a trial" and "not an exercise in blame and shame". He explained that the purpose of the hearing was to examine whether there had been any "predictable threat to life" and to establish "what could or should have been done that might have prevented these deaths".

The coroner said the inquest aimed to give the Pearson family a voice, but acknowledged that their concerns "coalesce into two words of rhetoric – 'What if?'"

Brennand also read out remarks made by Justice Davis, the judge who jailed the family's killers. According to the coroner, the judge had determined that a series of tit-for-tat attacks had formed part of a feud in the period leading up to the fatal firebombing, although what lay behind that dispute had never been made public.

Anna Morris KC, representing the Pearson family, described Michelle as a devoted mother who read bedtime stories to her children every night. Michelle sustained massive injuries in the blaze and remained in hospital for a prolonged period. For part of that time, she was unaware that her children had died, and her mental health deteriorated sharply once she was told.

When she eventually died in hospital, her family placed a crucifix in her hand along with a photograph of her children. In their statement, the family said: "We know she's back with her children and out of pain."

The inquest heard moving tributes to each of the four children. Demi was remembered as a "happy, smiley child" who had been "best friends" with her mother. Brandon was described as having an infectious smile and being a "mummy's boy", while Lacie was characterised as a little "diva". Lia was recalled as a little chatterbox with a cheeky laugh.

"All of the children had such bright futures ahead of them," the family statement said, adding: "We cherish the short time we shared with them."

Relatives of the family told the inquest they believed the deaths had been "wholly preventable" and pointed to a series of "missed opportunities" to protect them in the weeks and months before the attack. Those concerns are expected to be explored in detail as the hearing continues over the coming weeks.

The inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court is ongoing, with further evidence expected to be heard about the contact Michelle Pearson and her family had with police, housing providers and other agencies before the fatal attack.