Mother told police of fears before four children died in petrol bomb attack

A woman told police she feared for her family’s safety a week before her house was petrol-bombed, killing four of her children, a court has heard.

A jury at Manchester crown court was told on Tuesday of four occasions when Michelle Pearson, 36, called the police in the two weeks leading up to the attack, as a feud raged between her 17-year-old son, Kyle Pearson, and Zak Bolland, 23. The prosecution said “tit-for-tat attacks” had left her windows smashed and a wheelie bin outside her house set on fire.

The court heard that shortly before 5am on 11 December, Bolland and David Worrall, 25, removed a fence panel from the garden of the family’s mid-terrace house in Walkden, Salford, smashed a kitchen window and threw in two lit petrol bombs.

The fire spread to block the only exit from the first floor to the ground floor, while the family were asleep upstairs. Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and sister Lacie, seven, who were sleeping in a front bedroom, died in the blaze. Their youngest sister, Lia, three, died in hospital two days later.

Kyle Pearson and his friend Bobby Harris escaped the fire. Michelle Pearson, who remains in intensive care, has only recently recovered enough to be told of the death of her children.

Bolland’s girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, 20, is accused of encouraging and assisting the two men with their crimes. All three deny four counts of murder. They also deny three counts of attempted murder relating to Michelle Pearson, Kyle Pearson and Bobby Harris. Bolland has admitted reckless arson, a charge denied by the other two.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Paul Reid QC said a decision had been made by the three defendants “to go far beyond anything that had previously taken place and to target not only the Pearsons’ house but to petrol bomb it at a time when they knew that it was occupied by the Pearson family, who were asleep in their beds upstairs”.

Michelle Pearson contacted police on four occasions in the weeks preceding the attack, the prosecution said. The dispute started when Bolland accused her son of setting fire to his Ford Focus on 25 November. In a message sent to her phone, Bolland demanded £500 payment for the destruction of his car, writing: “Fire letter box I want my 500”.

Reid told the jury that after receiving a threat from Bolland on 26 November that he was going to “finish her house off”, she drilled her letterbox shut “for fear that her house might be further damaged”. Two days later, following a referral by police, the fire service fitted a letterbox cover to prevent accelerants such as petrol from being poured through the door.

Police investigated an allegation that Bolland had smashed the windows at the Pearson house, but after “a misunderstanding as to whether Michelle Pearson was willing to attend court” no further action was taken.

In a statement to police on 1 December, which was read to the jury, Pearson said she was scared of Zak Bolland. “He’s smashed all of my windows. I know he’s capable of hurting me and damaging my property,” she said. Pearson said she wanted her housing association to allow her to move house, saying: “I’ve lived here for 14 years, but I’d rather move than risk harm to me and my children.” She asked for a restraining order against Bolland.

Four hours before the fire, Bolland and Worrall went to the Pearsons’ home and threatened them. Kyle Pearson reported hearing an exchange between Bolland and his mother. “He heard Bolland shout that he was going to ‘kill us all’ and another voice that he did not recognise saying words to the effect ‘they won’t get away with this, he’s getting his face smashed in’,” said Reid. “Bobby Harris heard Bolland shouting something like ‘Watch, all your family’s getting it, they’re all going to die’, but he didn’t take the threat seriously at the time.”

The first fire engine arrived at the scene at 5.04am. Michelle Pearson was found first on the bathroom floor. Brandon was found in the front bedroom with his head towards the landing as if he had been trying to crawl out of the room. Lacie was on the floor behind as if she had been following him.

Demi was found on the bottom bunk bed, her feet on the floor with her hands stretched out to the open window. Lia was found lying in the bath. All the children were laid outside the house while paramedics worked on them, but only Lia showed signs of life.

The trial, which is scheduled to last up to six weeks, continues.