Mother who lost four children in arson attack dies from her injuries

A MOTHER whose four children were killed in a house fire has died 20 months after suffering life-threatening injuries, with police called on to charge the arsonists with murder.

Michelle Pearson, 37, suffered severe burns in the blaze following a petrol bomb attack at her home in Walkden, Greater Manchester, in December 2017.

Sandra Lever, her mother, said yesterday that Mrs Pearson had died “after a hard 20 months of fighting”, adding that she had gone to “join her babies”.

Her death prompted calls for two arsonists convicted of murdering her children to face a fresh murder charge.

Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for the North West, tweeted: “Those convicted of the murder of her children now need to be charged with her murder. Time is no longer a bar to prosecution. Such a sad case.”

The fire claimed the lives of Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, aged eight, and sisters Lacie, aged seven, and Lia, aged three.

In May, Zak Bolland and David Worrall, then 23 and 25, were each convicted of four counts of murder and jailed for life, with minimum terms of 40 and 37 years respectively, while Courtney Brierley was jailed for 21 years for manslaughter.

Mrs Pearson was put into an induced coma after suffering 75 per cent burns to her body. She appeared to be recovering in February of this year, when she was filmed outside a hospital releasing heart-shaped balloons in a tribute to her children. She was seen in a wheelchair, with a tracheostomy tube in her neck and both legs in casts.

However, her mother said in June she had taken a “turn for the worse” and was in a “critical” condition.

The trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that Bolland was involved in a “petty” feud with Mrs Pearson’s son Kyle, 17, over damage to a car, prompting a series of tit-for-tat attacks.

A jury was told that Bolland and Worrall, fuelled by drink and drugs, filled two glass bottles with £1.50 of petrol bought from a garage, stuffing the tops with tissue paper, as they prepared the attack at 5am on Dec 11, 2017.

Two lit petrol bombs were thrown inside Kyle’s mother’s home after the kitchen window was smashed. Bolland’s bottle “exploded” near the stairs, blocking the only exit to the ground floor, trapping the victims upstairs. Within seconds, flames engulfed the three-bedroom mid-terrace home.

Kyle Pearson managed to escape with a friend, Bobby Harris.

Greater Manchester police said they would be reviewing the investigation and consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service.