‘Cowardly monsters’ get life for arson horror
TWO men and a woman behind a horrific arson attack which killed a mum and her four children were jailed for a combined 89 years yesterday.
The home of Michelle Pearson was set ablaze with petrol bombs in a revenge attack.
The inferno killed four of Michelle’s five children – Demi, 14, Brandon, eight, Lacie, seven, and threeyear-old Lia in Walkden, Greater Manchester, in December 2017.
The mother suffered catastrophic injuries and remained in hospital until her death aged 37 in August 2019. Killers Zak
Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, and Bolland’s former girlfriend Courtney Brierley, 23, had been jailed for the children’s deaths in 2018.
At Manchester Crown
Court yesterday the men saw their original sentences reset – to include the killing of mum Michelle.
Bolland was again given a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years,
while Worrall was again handed at least 37 years.
Brierley, who “assisted and encouraged” the pair, had her sentence increased by 18 months so she now serves 12 years in prison.
The court heard that Michelle had spent her days “crying in pain” from 68 per cent burns.
Michelle’s mum Sandra Lever previously said: “They’re all monsters. It was so cowardly.”
Judge Mrs Justice McGowan said: “She lost any desire to go on living.”
She said Michelle had “experienced pain which cannot be imagined”.
Bolland had been feuding with Michelle’s son Kyle, 16, at the time. He survived.