‘They are trying to say they were wrongly convicted’
MEN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING CHILDREN IN HOUSE BLAZE NOW ON TRIAL OVER MUM’S DEATH
TWO men previously convicted of murdering four children in a petrol bomb attack have gone on trial again accused of murdering the children’s mother during the same blaze.
Zak Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, both deny murdering 37-year-old Michelle Pearson and claim they were ‘wrongly convicted’ at an earlier trial.
They are accused of throwing petrol bombs into her home on Jackson Street in Walkden, Salford, in the early hours of December 11, 2017.
Ms Pearson claimed that Bolland had previously issued a threat saying ‘I will petrol bomb your house tonight.’
Four of Ms Pearson’s children died during the fire.
They were 15-year-old Demi, eightyear-old Brandon, seven-year-old Lacie, and Lia, three.
Prosecutors allege there had been a ‘continuing feud’ between Bolland and Kyle Pearson, one of Ms Pearson’s children who was 16 at the time. He was able to escape the blaze at the home.
Ms Pearson was ‘very seriously injured’ but ‘clung onto life’ until August 2019 when she died, a Manchester Crown Court trial heard.
She had suffered ‘68 per cent total body surface area burns,’ jurors were told.
The jury of seven men and five women heard that Bolland and Worrall previously stood trial for causing the death of the four children.
The defendants ‘denied their guilt’ but were both convicted of the murder of the four children, the court heard.
Ms Pearson was alive at the time of the trial but was too ill to take part.
Prosecutor Paul Reid QC said: “Your task is made easier in this trial by your knowledge of their convictions in 2018.
“The prosecution say that if Michelle Pearson had died before that trial took place, that jury in 2018 would undoubtedly have convicted Bolland and Worrall of the murder of Michelle Pearson.
“We invite you to come to the same conclusion.”
Courtney Brierley, 23, Bolland’s girlfriend, who was with Bolland and Worrall and ‘encouraged and assisted’ them, is not on trial as she has ‘admitted her guilt for what she did in causing the death of Michelle Pearson,’ the court heard.
Jurors were told of a ‘feud’ between Bolland and Kyle Pearson with ‘tit for tat attacks’ occurring.
Mr Reid said things ‘turned sour’ following an incident on November 26, 2017, when Bolland’s car was set on fire. Bolland felt that Kyle was in some way responsible for the damage, jurors were told. Windows at the Pearson house had allegedly been smashed by Bolland on the same date.
In a statement Ms Pearson gave to police that day, she claimed Bolland had sent her a message saying ‘I will petrol bomb your house tonight.’
Then a wheelie bin had been set alight in the garden in Jackson Street on December 9, a few days before the incident on December 11, the court heard.
Jurors heard that Bolland had been at home with Brierley with two other men and were watching the Manchester derby being played at Old Trafford on Sunday, December 10, 2017.
In the early hours, a woman called Abigail Toone was trying to find her boyfriend, who was friendly with Bolland. She went to Bolland’s home.
Ms Toone heard Bolland and Worrall talking together, and she claimed they were getting ‘really loud and aggressive.’
They seemed to be planning something, Mr Reid said. Later they got up and Worrall took an axe and Bolland a machete, and Bolland told Ms Toone to drive them to a petrol station.
At about 5am, they went to the Pearson house on Jackson Street.
Mr Reid said: “The men pulled their hoods up, got out of the car with their home-made petrol bombs and ran off up Jackson Street.”
After returning to the car, Bolland allegedly said ‘go, go, go, drive to mine, go to mine.’
Worrall allegedly said ‘Oh God, that was real weren’t it.’
Kyle Pearson and his friend Bobby Harris were able to escape the property after the fire broke out.
Demi, Brandon and Lacie were all pronounced dead within a short time.
Lia was still alive when she was rescued, but she died on December 13.
Mr Reid says Ms Pearson was in hospital from the time of her fire until her death, apart from a short period when she was transferred to a care home. She died on August 25, 2019.
Mr Reid said: “The prosecution invite you to come to the same conclusion as the jury in 2018, namely that Bolland and Worrall threw petrol bombs into the house, knowing that it was occupied intending to cause death or really serious harm.
“For doing that, Bolland and Worrall are guilty of the murder of Michelle Pearson just as they were found guilty of the murders of her four children.”
Jurors were told Bolland and Worrall admit manslaughter but deny murder.
Mr Reid says by their pleas of not guilty, Bolland and Worrall are ‘trying to say that the first jury got it wrong and they were wrongly convicted.’
Jurors were told Bolland admits making the petrol bombs and being involved in throwing them, but says he only meant to cause damage to the house, and didn’t think there was anyone inside.
The court heard that Worrall says he played no part in setting fire to the house, and denies throwing either of the two petrol bombs.
Worrall says he thought Bolland was going to set fire to a wheelie bin, jurors heard. “He knew or at least believed that the house was occupied and that there were children there, as, he says, did Bolland,” Mr Reid said.