A police officer who visited the home of a mother and her four children hours before they were murdered in an arson attack has told a coroner's court she believed the killer was making “empty threats” and did not attempt to arrest him.
Pc Gemma Quinn told Bolton Coroner's Court she did not think it necessary to arrest Zak Bolland, 26, “there and then” after a 999 call from Michelle Pearson, 37, when he threatened her son and home on Jackson Street in Walkden, Salford. The officer, a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer with 14 years' service, said she had planned to arrest Bolland when she was next on shift in two days' time.
But after she and a more junior colleague left Ms Pearson's home, Bolland returned less than three hours later to murder Ms Pearson and four of her children in a firebomb attack in the early hours of December 11 2017.
Officer's Regret and Testimony
Tearfully, the officer told the hearing: “This incident is with me every day. I carry that guilt every day.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen.
“Since that job I have not done front-line policing.”
Pc Quinn conceded she could have tried to arrest Bolland, who lived 350 yards away, but said she still had paperwork to do about the 999 call and crime report back at the station.
Questions Over Arrest Decision
“It would have been a few minutes' journey,” Anna Morris KC, representing the Pearson family, suggested to the witness.
“Just go around the corner to Bolland's address, to see if he was there?” Ms Morris said.
Pc Quinn replied: “We had other stuff to do regarding the job. We had write-ups to do.”
Ms Morris said: “Is writing up more important than arresting the suspect?”
“No,” the officer replied.
Ms Morris continued: “The suspect lived a couple of minutes away. Your shift doesn't finish until 5am. It could've happened, couldn't it?”
Pc Quinn replied: “Could've done, yes.”
The officer conceded she did not seek advice from senior colleagues back at the station, or alert officers still on duty to arrest Bolland, or handover the job to the next shift or arrange for patrols to keep an eye on the address.
Details of the Night
Earlier, the court heard Pc Quinn had been called with a colleague to Jackson Street at about 12.40am on the night of the attack. When they arrived at the house, the windows were still boarded up because Bolland had smashed them in a previous attack, the wheelie bin had suffered fire damage, the letter-box had been sealed and the word “Grass” spray-painted on the property.
A statement was taken from Ms Pearson, who said Bolland had arrived with three others and he had threatened to “break the jaw” of her eldest son and “do the house” and he had previously threatened to fire-bomb the property and broke her windows.
Pc Quinn told the court she did not think it necessary to attempt to arrest Bolland “there and then” and had planned to try to arrest him when she was next on duty in two days' time. The officers left the house at 2.20am but at about 4.54am Bolland returned to Ms Pearson's home.
He and accomplice, David Worrall, 28, smashed Ms Pearson's windows at the back of the house and tossed in petrol bombs. One “exploded” near the stairs, blocking the only exit to the ground floor and trapping the sleeping family upstairs.
Sleeping upstairs along with Ms Pearson were her children: Demi Pearson, 15; her brother Brandon, eight; and sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia. All the children were killed as flames quickly engulfed the property. Ms Pearson suffered 68% burns to her body and “clung on to life” until she died, 20 months after the attack on August 25 2019.
Inquest and Background
The inquest into their deaths is in the second week of an eight-week hearing, which is investigating if there were any missed opportunities by the police or other agencies to protect the Pearson family.
Earlier, Laura Nash, counsel to the inquest, asked the officer: “So when you left the property, how serious do you think the offending by Bolland was, towards the family?
“You did not try to arrest him immediately?”
“No,” Pc Quinn replied.
Ms Nash continued: “Or allocate a colleague. You didn't think it needed to be done immediately. Why?”
Pc Quinn replied: “In my assessment, my knowledge of Salford. I had worked in Salford for 14 years.
“I did not believe, at that time, I needed to do the arrest attempt there and then.
“As a Pc working in Salford, you get to see the worst side of the community and, unfortunately, from what I saw working for 14 years, I don't want to use the word normal, but individuals make threats like that quite often.
“But we did not believe we needed to make an arrest there and then that night.”
Pc Quinn said she took the threats by Bolland “seriously” but also viewed it potentially as an “empty threat”. Ms Nash added: “Because it is so common place in Salford?”
“Yes,” the officer replied.
In 2018, Bolland and Worrall were both given four life sentences and told they would serve a minimum of 40 and 37 years respectively for the petrol bombing. Bolland's girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, 20, was jailed for 21 years for four counts of manslaughter.
Their trial heard attacks on Ms Pearson's home arose out of an escalating feud between Bolland and one of her sons. Ms Pearson had called police on at least five occasions in the two weeks before the firebombing and had begged to be re-housed, the murder trial at Manchester Crown Court heard. The inquest continues.
