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

Four children who died in a petrol bomb attack at their family home in Greater Manchester 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, all lost their lives in the fire at their house on Jackson Street in Walkden 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 family had endured a sustained campaign of intimidation before the fatal firebombing. The house had been vandalised, with graffiti daubed on the walls and windows smashed, leaving the family living in a state of constant anxiety. Michelle had told police she no longer felt safe inside her own home.

Relatives described how Michelle had become increasingly desperate to be rehoused. In a statement read to the court, her mother, Sandra Lever, said her daughter was "beyond distressed" and had effectively stopped eating. "The children were petrified of living in Jackson Street," she said, adding that her daughter had been determined to move away from the property but felt she was getting nowhere with the authorities.

The inquest heard that Michelle had approached her social landlord to explain that she and her children were in danger, only to be told she did not meet the criteria for emergency housing. The family's sense of helplessness was compounded, the court was told, by what they regarded as a lack of effective police action despite repeated calls for help. Michelle contacted police on five separate occasions, according to statements from relatives.

Her son Kyle, who managed to escape the blaze, told the inquest in a statement that "the police didn't do anything". His words underscored a central theme of the proceedings: whether more could have been done to protect a family who had made their fears known to the very agencies responsible for their safety. Relatives said they believed the deaths were "wholly preventable" and pointed to what they described as missed opportunities to intervene.

The court also heard that two weeks before the fatal attack, Zak Bolland had used a hammer to smash the windows of the family's home, leaving broken glass scattered throughout the property. A neighbour, Elaine Williams, said she had witnessed the vandalism and described how Michelle had become worn down by the relentless trouble. "She wanted to move from there. She wanted out. She was fed up of all the trouble," Williams said. "Her nerves were shot. She was at her wits' end."

The human cost of the campaign was laid out in painful detail. Michelle's children were suffering nightmares, and Brandon had told his mother that he no longer wanted to live in the house. Anna Morris KC, representing the Pearson family, described Michelle as a devoted mother who read bedtime stories to her children every night. The court heard that she sustained massive injuries in the fire and spent a long period in hospital, during which she was initially unaware that all four of her children had died. Her mental health deteriorated sharply once she was told the truth.

When Michelle eventually died in hospital, her family placed a crucifix in her hand and a photograph of her children beside her. In their statement, relatives said they took some comfort from the belief that she was now "back with her children and out of pain". Tributes were also paid to each of the children. Demi was remembered as a happy, smiley child who was her mother's best friend. Brandon was described as having an infectious smile and as a "mummy's boy". Lacie was a little "diva", while Lia was a chatterbox with a cheeky laugh. "All of the children had such bright futures ahead of them," the family said, adding that they cherished the short time they had shared with them.

Zak Bolland and David Worrall were jailed for life in 2018 for murdering the four children. In 2021, they were also convicted of Michelle's murder. Bolland received a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years, while Worrall was given 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.

Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, opened the inquest by stressing that the proceedings were not a trial and were not intended as "an exercise in blame and shame". He said the purpose 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 the deaths. He noted that the family's concerns ultimately "coalesce into two words of rhetoric – 'What if?'"

The coroner also read out remarks made by Justice Davis, the judge who jailed the killers. According to Brennand, the judge had concluded that the firebombing was the culmination of a series of tit-for-tat attacks linked to a feud, though the underlying cause of that dispute had never been made public. The inquest is expected to explore the sequence of events leading up to the attack and the responses of the police, housing providers and other agencies.

The case has renewed scrutiny of how authorities handle reports of escalating threats against families, particularly when children are involved. The coming weeks of evidence are likely to focus on whether warning signs were missed and whether existing safeguarding procedures were followed. For the Pearson family, the hearing represents a long-awaited opportunity to have their account heard in public and to press for answers about whether their relatives' deaths could have been avoided. The inquest continues.