MY ANGELS IN THE SKY
HUNDREDS LINE STREETS FOR FUNERAL OF FOUR CHILDREN KILLED IN APPALLING ARSON ATTACK
IT was an unimaginable scene – four tiny coffins being carried into a church ahead of the funeral of siblings killed in the most horrific of circumstances.
Some of those carrying them were just children themselves.
Hundreds of friends lined the streets as the procession made its way through the Pearson children’s home town.
It started where they lost their lives all those months ago, outside the house at the centre of the unthinkable tragedy last December.
It was a day Salford will never forget – the day Demi, 15, Brandon, eight, Lacie, seven and Lia, three, were finally laid to rest.
Not only were they siblings, they were best friends. ‘Stay together’ was the message to the ‘little angels’ at the heart-rending service.
Their deaths rocked Salford – and far beyond.
The way in which their young lives were taken, and the suffering of their mother Michelle, hit people hard.
But the Pearson family’s dignity and strength as the men who killed the four children were jailed was an inspiration.
Michelle, 36, was badly injured in the arson attack on December 11.
She hoped to leave hospital for the service yesterday, to finally see her children laid to rest. It wasn’t to be. Michelle suffered a medical setback and was unable to attend. Instead, she penned a heartbreaking tribute, which was read out to the congregation on her behalf by her sister, Claire. “They were the twinkle in my eye, now they are angels in the sky,” Michelle wrote. “One day we will be reunited together, forever.” Earlier in the day, Walkden came to standstill as the procession made its way through the town centre. Each child’s coffin was decorated with their favourite things. Demi’s was covered in musical notes and for Brandon, The Avengers.
Lacie’s coffin was My Little Ponythemed, while tiny Lia’s was adorned with images of her beloved Peppa Pig.
Kilted bagpipers and drummers led the procession from Jackson Street, where the family live, before pausing at Bridgewater Primary – the school Brandon and Lacie attended – for a minute’s silence.
From there, the four horse-drawn carriages carrying each coffin made their way to St Paul’s Church.
Pallbearers, some of them teenag
Walkden will never forget these little angels. Four siblings and four best friends The Revd Gill Page
ers, broke down in tears as they passed a guard of honour of firefighters.
The men and women who bravely fought the blaze and attempted to save the children.
The coffins were then carried into the church as Ariana Grande’s cover of ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ played.
At the service, which lasted around two hours, mourners were told of cherished family memories.
Music and images of the children were played on screens, along with Bible readings and prayers.
Those unable to pay their respects inside the packed church stood listening to the service on loudspeakers outside.
Claire Pearson, reading her sister’s tribute to the children, said they were ‘so close.’
Michelle described Lia as a ‘right little chatterbox,’ and said just thinking of Lacie, who loved to dance, made her ‘smile through her tears.’
Brandon loved technology and computers and had promised to build his mum a new house when he grew up, she added.
Demi would stay out later than she should, ‘but I could never get mad at her,’ Michelle wrote.
She said her eldest daughter was her ‘best friend.’
The Revd Gill Page, conducting the service, said the Walkden community had been united in ‘collective grief and anguish’ in the wake of the fire.
“Walkden will never forget these little angels,” he said.
“Demi, Brandon, Lacie and Lia Pearson – four siblings and four best friends,” she added.
The Revd Page also paid tribute to the firefighters, police officers and medical staff at Wythenshawe Hospital who have supported the Pearson family.
After the final commendation and blessing, each of the four coffins were carried out to ‘Angel’ by Sarah McLachlan before a private burial for family members.
The children’s killers are serving lengthy jail terms.
In May, Zak Bolland, 23, who launched the fatal attack last December, was found guilty of four counts of murder by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
He was jailed for a minimum of 40 years.
David Worrall, 26, who was also convicted of murdering the four children, was handed a life sentence, with a minimum 37-year term.
Bolland’s then girlfriend Courtney Brierley, 21, was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter and handed 21 years in a young offenders’ institution.