A mother-of-six died in hospital holding a photograph of four of her children who were murdered in a petrol bomb attack on their home almost two years earlier, an inquest heard on October 5.
Michelle Pearson's family also wrapped a crucifix around her hand as she passed away after a 'lengthy and courageous' fight 21 months after their deaths.
"We know that she is back with her children," said a family statement read out at the inquest.
Background to the tragedy
The tragedy in Walkden, Salford, in December 2017 is now the subject of an inquest hearing, which started on Monday at Bolton Coroner's Court.
In a statement, Ms Pearson's family told how she was 'pleading with' Salford Council to rehome her in the weeks before the arson attack. They said she was 'beyond stressed' with what was described as a 'tit-for-tat feud' that escalated and ultimately ended in tragedy.
Her children, said the family, were 'petrified' of living at the property on Jackson Street.
The attack and its aftermath
Four members of the Pearson family - Demi, 14; Brandon, eight; Lacie, seven; and Lia, three - were killed after petrol bombs were launched at the house in the early hours of December 11, 2017.
Their mother, Ms Pearson, survived, but died aged 37 almost two years later after suffering severe burns and spending months in a coma.
Zak 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 admitted manslaughter and received an additional, concurrent, 12-year sentence.
Inquest proceedings
Senior coroner Timothy Brennand, opening the inquest which is due to last for eight weeks, read out the sentencing remarks of the trial judge, Mr Justice William Davis, to open the inquest.
The inquest heard Mr Justice Davis spoke of a feud 'between some members of the Pearson family and Zac Bolland and Courtney Brierley'. "What lay behind the feud has never been made public," he said.
The inquest heard of cars being damaged and Boland smashing windows of the Pearson home with a hammer. Boland was also said to have 'threatened to use fire' on the property.
Police and the fire service, who sealed up her letterbox, were involved, with Mr Justice Davies detailing a 'flurry of tit-for-tat attacks'. Ms Pearson went on to be labelled a 'grass', a word which was spray-painted on the walls of her home. A wheelie bin in the front garden was also set alight.
Mr Justice Davies told of 'a series of relatively trivial incidents gradually increasing in seriousness which had no conceivable justification, but which could and should have gone no further' in his sentencing remarks.
After drinking and taking cocaine Bolland and Worrall, armed with an axe and a machete, went to the Pearson home in the early hours. The inquest heard they had made two petrol bombs - one from a large clear bottle and the other from a beer bottle. Worrall smashed a rear window and threw one inside, which ignited 'but only to a limited extent'.
Bolland's petrol bomb 'exploded with considerable force' and the resulting blaze consumed the house.
"The defendants must have known that they had been responsible for setting on fire an occupied house yet they behaved as if nothing had happened," said the trial judge in her sentencing remarks.
Key questions and tributes
The fire, the inquest heard, was 'swift and deadly'. Coroner Mr Brennand said a homicide investigation began and convictions followed. 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'.
Mr Brennand said it would assess and scrutinise 'how state agencies worked together' to manage any risk after Ms Pearson's reports. "The family are at the heart of this process," he said. "The intention is to give the family a voice."
Family 'pen portraits' of the children were read out. Demi was described as a 'happy and smiley child with a heart of gold'. She was found near a bunk bed and died at the scene.
Brandon was the 'brainbox' of the family who was said to have an 'amazing vocabulary'. "His favourite word was putrid," the family said. He was said to pick flowers from the park and loved the Beatles.
Lacie loved to dance and was 'a YouTube star in the making', the family said, also paying tribute to Lia as having a 'cheeky laugh and a smile that would melt your heart'. Lia died two days later in hospital.
