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Manchester arson attack: Four children 'murdered in their sleep' over family feud

Three-year-old Lia Pearson, Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, aged eight and sister, Lacie, aged seven all died as a result of the blaze (SWNS/Caters)
Three-year-old Lia Pearson, Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, aged eight and sister, Lacie, aged seven all died as a result of the blaze (SWNS/Caters)

Four sleeping children were murdered when their house was torched with petrol bombs in the dead of night, trapping them in their bedrooms, a court has heard.

Zak Bolland, 23, launched the attack after being involved in a feud with the victims’ 16-year-old brother Kyle Pearson, Manchester Crown Court was told.

Bolland, along with David Worrall, 25, allegedly removed a fence panel from the garden of Pearson’s home in Walkden, Greater Manchester, smashed a kitchen window and tossed in two lit petrol bombs in the early hours of December 11 last year.

Michelle Pearson survived the blaze that killed the four children (PA Images/Caters)
Michelle Pearson survived the blaze that killed the four children (PA Images/Caters)

One of the bombs landed near the stairs, blocking the only exit to the ground floor and trapping the victims upstairs as flames engulfed the three bedroom mid-terrace house.

Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, aged eight and sister, Lacie, aged seven, who were sleeping in a front bedroom, all died in the blaze.

“Their apparently lifeless bodies were recovered by the firefighters who attended and battled their way through the heat, smoke and flames,” prosecutor Paul Reid QC told the court.

<em>Accused – Zak Bolland, 23, his girlfriend Courtney Brierley, 20, and David Worrall, 25, all deny four counts of murder (Picture: PA)</em>
Accused – Zak Bolland, 23, his girlfriend Courtney Brierley, 20, and David Worrall, 25, all deny four counts of murder (Picture: PA)

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Their mother Michelle Pearson, 35, was rescued along with her youngest daughter, Lia, aged three, who died in hospital two days later.

Kyle Pearson, who had been feuding with Bolland, escaped along with a friend who had been staying at the house.

The court heard that the teen saw the light from his sister Demi’s mobile phone at the window before she coughed in the thick smoke then appeared to fall away from the window.

Bolland, his girlfriend Courtney Brierley, 20, and father-of-one Worrall all deny four counts of murder.

They also deny three counts of attempted murder relating to Michelle Pearson, Kyle Pearson and Bobby Harris.

Bolland has admitted reckless arson, a charge denied by the other two.

The case continues