An inquest has heard that Michelle Pearson, a mother-of-six who died in hospital 21 months after her children were killed in a petrol bomb attack on their home, told authorities she felt she was 'in danger' weeks before the tragedy.
Ms Pearson, who lived on Jackson Street in Walkden, Salford, told social workers that she did not feel safe in her own home, Bolton Coroners' Court heard. She also told Salford Council's housing department that threats had been made against her before the fatal blaze and that 'she was in danger'.
Family's plea for rehousing
In a statement read to the inquest, the family said she asked the council to be moved, but was told she 'did not meet the criteria for emergency housing'. The inquest heard that before the fatal fire, the fire service had also sealed up her letter-box and discussed an escape plan with her.
The family said in the statement that Ms Pearson told her sister she had asked the police for an injunction against Zak Bolland, preventing him from contacting her and her children.
Previous attacks on the home
The firebombing in December 2017 claimed the lives of Ms Pearson's children - Demi Pearson, 15; her brother Brandon, eight; and sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia, three. Brandon, the inquest heard, was 'having nightmares about dying' as the situation escalated.
The inquest heard on Monday of a 'tit-for-tat' feud involving Bolland and others. Bolland and David Worrall, then 23 and 25, were jailed for life and ordered to serve 40 and 37 years respectively after being convicted of the murders of the children in May 2018.
Bolland's then girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, who had waited in a nearby car while the attack went on, was jailed for 21 years for manslaughter. Bolland and Worrall were also found guilty of Michelle's murder at a separate trial in 2021. Brierley, meanwhile, admitted manslaughter and received an additional, concurrent, 12-year sentence.
Neighbour's account of escalating threats
The court heard Ms Pearson's windows were smashed - as two of the children sat on a sofa under them watching TV in their front room - in the November. Bolland, who was armed with a hammer, was witnessed at the scene. In a separate incident, the family's wheelie bins were set on fire.
A neighbour told the inquest Ms Pearson was 'stressed and upset about trouble coming to her door'. She said that as Brandon was being taken out of the house after the windows were smashed, he said he 'did not want to live in this house anymore'.
"She just wanted out," said neighbour Elaine Williams. Ms Williams said Ms Pearson went to see the council in the aftermath, then told her that police 'did not believe she was in any danger and if she wanted to go into a hotel room, she would have to fund it herself'.
The court heard Bolland 'bombarded' her with text messages demanding money as well as threats. "Michelle, her nerves were shot," Ms Williams said. "She was at her wit's end with it all."
Police statements and inquest aims
Statements Ms Pearson gave to the police in the aftermath of the previous attack on her home were read out. In one, she referenced one of the messages saying 'I will petrol bomb your house tonight'. She also spoke of a 'complete misunderstanding' after she gave police an official statement and said she would be willing to go to court to testify. The inquest heard Ms Pearson was 'horrified' by a decision to take no further action against Bolland.
Her other son, Kyle Pearson, told the inquest how he and a friend who was sleeping over on the night jumped out of a bedroom window to escape the blaze. In a statement, he told of screaming at neighbours to try and get help - and of trying to kick open the front door wearing just socks to reach his trapped family. "I remember trying to smash a side window to try and get my family out," said Kyle, who was also taken to hospital later. And in a video interview later with police, he said Bolland had previously made 'threats to kill them all'.
Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, opening the inquest, told the hearing: "This is not a trial, this is not an exercise in blame and shame." He said the inquest would seek to examine whether there was 'any predictable threat to life' and '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 added that their concerns 'coalesce into two words of rhetoric – 'what if?'.
The inquest is expected to last for eight weeks.
