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Arson attack killers given more jail time as mother dies nearly two years after her four children

Two killers convicted of killing Brandon, Lacie and Lia Pearson (pictured) and their older sibling Demi in an arson attack in Greater Manchester have been given extra jail time after their mother Michelle Pearson died 20 months later (Family handout/Greater Manchester Police/PA)
Two killers convicted of killing Brandon, Lacie and Lia Pearson (pictured) and their older sibling Demi in an arson attack in Greater Manchester have been given extra jail time after their mother Michelle Pearson died 20 months later (Family handout/Greater Manchester Police/PA)

Two convicted child killers have been given extra jail time for the murder of a mother who died 20 months after the same arson attack killed four of her children.

Zak Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, were jailed for 40 years and 37 years respectively on Wednesday for the murder of Michelle Pearson, 37, following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

The pair were already serving four life sentences with a minimum of 40 years for Bolland and 37 years for Worrall for the murders of four of her children following a trial in 2018.

They had denied the murder of Ms Pearson, claiming they had been wrongly convicted of murdering her children.

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However, Ms Justice McGowan ruled Bolland’s and Worrall’s latest sentences will run from today, not 2018, they will therefore each serve about three extra years in jail.

High on drink and drugs, the pair petrol-bombed Ms Pearson’s home in Walkden, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of 11 December 2017, trapping the family upstairs as a huge fire engulfed the house.

The attack was said to be the culmination of a series of tit-for-tat incidents while feuding with Ms Pearson’s 16-year-old son.

Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, aged eight, and sister Lacie, aged seven, all died in the blaze.

Ms Pearson was rescued along with her youngest daughter, Lia, aged three, who died in hospital two days later.

Her eldest son, Kyle Pearson, 16, managed to escape through a window.

Demi Pearson, 15, died in an arson attack at her family home in Salford, Greater, ManchesterFamily handout/Greater Manchester Police/PA
Demi Pearson, 15, died in an arson attack at her family home in Salford, Greater, ManchesterFamily handout/Greater Manchester Police/PA

Ms Pearson suffered 68 per cent burns to her body and "clung on to life" the court heard, until she died, aged 37, on 25 August 2019, 20 months after the attack.

Bolland's girlfriend at the time of the attack, Courtney Brierley, 23, who "encouraged or assisted them", was convicted of four counts of manslaughter at the first trial.

She is currently serving a sentence of 21 years and was given a 12-year sentence on Wednesday to run concurrently after admitting the manslaughter of Ms Pearson, and will also serve a "short period" of extra jail time.

Passing sentence, Ms Justice McGowan said: "I must mark the fifth death you caused.

"The least I can do to balance all the factors outlined is to impose the same minimum terms as imposed in May of 2018, but to order that those terms commence today.

"Accordingly, the time you have served between the first trial and today will not reduce the minimum term."

The coffin of Michelle Pearson is carried out of St Paul’s Church in Walkden, Salford, after her funeralDanny Lawson/PA
The coffin of Michelle Pearson is carried out of St Paul’s Church in Walkden, Salford, after her funeralDanny Lawson/PA

Outside court, a statement from the family was read out, which said: "We are still trying to come to terms with how cruelly they were taken away from us, a whole family has been torn apart and destroyed in one night.

"Losing Michelle and the children is still very raw and we are all still struggling to come to terms with losing them, especially the way they died in such a horrific way.

"The family shouldn't have had to relive the devastating details from the fire all over again.

"Not once have they shown any remorse or said sorry for the murders of my daughter and grandchildren."

Detective Chief Inspector Cheryl Chatterton, from Greater Manchester Police's major investigation team, added: "This was a heartbreaking case and I'm glad that the trio have now faced justice for the devastating death of Michelle too – 20 months on.

"All of our thoughts are with the family who have been through such a difficult time and have had to sit through two trials and listen to details on what was a horrific and planned attack."

Additional reporting by PA

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