Inquest Hears Four Children Were 'Petrified' Before Fatal Walkden Petrol Bomb Attack

Four children who died in a petrol bomb attack at their Greater Manchester home had been living in fear for weeks beforehand, an inquest has heard. Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia, three, were killed in the blaze at their house on Jackson Street in Walkden in December 2017. Their mother, Michelle Pearson, then 37, suffered catastrophic burns in the attack and died 20 months later, in August 2019. The inquest into all five deaths opened at Bolton Coroner's Court and is scheduled to run for eight weeks.

The hearing was told that Michelle Pearson had repeatedly warned authorities she did not feel safe in her own home. According to evidence presented to the court, the property had been covered in graffiti and had its windows smashed in the period leading up to the fatal fire. Relatives said she had contacted police on five separate occasions to report concerns, and had also approached her social landlord in an attempt to secure emergency housing, only to be told she did not meet the necessary criteria.

In a statement read to the inquest, Michelle's mother, Sandra Lever, described the toll the situation had taken on her daughter. "Michelle was beyond distressed," she said. "She was not eating. The children were petrified of living in Jackson Street." Lever added that her daughter had been desperate to move house and felt she had been "fobbed off" by those responsible for her safety.

The court also heard from Kyle Pearson, Michelle's son, who managed to escape the fire. In a statement, he said "the police didn't do anything" in response to the family's earlier appeals for help. The inquest was told that the children had been suffering nightmares, and that Brandon had told his grandmother he no longer wanted to live at the address.

A neighbour, Elaine Williams, gave evidence about the escalating violence in the weeks before the attack. She told the hearing she had witnessed Zak Bolland smashing the windows of the family's home with a hammer. "She wanted to move from there," Williams said of Michelle. "She wanted out. She was fed up of all the trouble. Her nerves were shot. She was at her wits' end. She was worried."

The inquest heard that two weeks before the fatal firebombing, Bolland had used a hammer to smash windows at the house, leaving glass scattered throughout the property. Senior coroner Timothy Brennand, for Greater Manchester West, told the court that the proceedings were not a trial and not "an exercise in blame and shame." He said the inquest would examine whether there had been "any predictable threat to life" and consider "what could or should have been done that might have prevented these deaths."

Brennand said the hearings were intended to give the Pearson family a voice, while acknowledging that their concerns "coalesce into two words of rhetoric – 'What if?'" He read remarks made by Justice Davis, who had jailed the family's killers, noting that the judge had determined a series of tit-for-tat attacks had formed part of a feud leading up to the firebombing. However, the underlying cause of that dispute has never been made public.

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

Anna Morris KC, representing the Pearson family, told the inquest that Michelle had been a devoted mother who read bedtime stories to her children every night. The court heard that she sustained burns to 68% of her body in the attack and clung to life for around 20 months. For part of her time in hospital, she was unaware that her children had died, and her mental health deteriorated sharply once she was told the truth. When she died in hospital, her family placed a crucifix in her hand alongside a photograph of her children. "We know she's back with her children and out of pain," the family said in their statement.

Tributes were also paid to each of the four children. Demi was remembered as a "happy, smiley child" who was "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 described as a 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 were "wholly preventable" and pointed to what they described as missed opportunities to protect the family before the attack. The evidence is expected to focus heavily on how multiple warning signs – including the earlier hammer attack, the graffiti, and the repeated calls to police – were handled by the relevant agencies.

The inquest, which continues, is expected to hear from a range of witnesses over the coming weeks, including police officers, housing officials and social services staff. The coroner's findings could have significant implications for how authorities respond to reports of threats to life in cases of domestic feuds and anti-social behaviour. For the Pearson family, the hearings represent a long-awaited opportunity to examine whether more could have been done to save five lives that were, in the words of their relatives, cut tragically short.