The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will reinvestigate the events leading up to the arson that killed Demi Pearson, 15, brother Brandon, and sisters Lacey, and Lia, and later mum Michelle
The police watchdog is to reinvestigate events leading up to the “wholly preventable” deaths of a family of five in a horrifying arson attack.
Demi Pearson, 15, her eight-year-old brother Brandon and two sisters Lacie and Lia, seven and three, died in December 2017 during a petrol bombing at their home in Walkden, Greater Manchester, that left the children’s mum with burns to 68 percent of her body. Michelle Pearson, 37, “clung on to life” until she died 20 months later from the extensive burns. A court has now heard the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will rexamine the case as an inquest into the shock incident gets underway.
READ MORE: Heartbroken mum spent final months ‘crying in pain’ after arson attack killed four kids
The IOPC will look into the family’s prior contact with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) involving previous incidents and threats from their killers as the inquest starts in October 2026. Zak Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, were sentenced in April 2021 for the murder of Michelle after they were found to have set fire to her home in December 2017.
Bolland was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years, while Worrall was handed at least 37 years. A third person, Bolland’s former girlfriend Courtney Brierley, was found to have “encouraged and assisted” and jailed for 12 years after admitting manslaughter.
The court also heard that, before the incident, Ms Pearson had “begged” to be rehoused and called police on five occasions in the two weeks before the fatal attack. A report on the arson incident was complied in 2019 but not made public, although it was shared with GMP, the local coroner and members of the Pearson family.
Glynis Craig, representing the IOPC, said GMP later notified the police watchdog of “some concerns” over the probe and in January this year asked the watchdog to review it. Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, told the court the Pearson family wants to know whether there were failures by police or local authorities that had put the family at risk.
He said: “The family have raised serious misgivings of missed opportunities for state agencies to have adequately assessed the risk to life and take appropriate action. The family contend the deaths to be wholly preventable and were not sufficiently involved in the subsequent investigations, have no confidence in findings, some of which are not within the public domain as yet…”
At a pre-inquest review hearing on Monday, Nicholas Flanagan, representing the IOPC, said a decision had been made to reinvestigate and the 2019 report consequently has “no legal standing”. He told Bolton Coroner’s Court: “This is effectively a brand new, fresh investigation into all matters.”
The first investigation examined the contact between GMP and Ms Pearson and her family from November 26 to December 11 2017 – when the blaze took place in the early hours – and included reports to the force about property being damaged at Ms Pearson’s home, and further threats to damage the house.
The actions of the officers who attended the scene of the blaze did not form part of the investigation, said the IOPC. Anna Morris, representing the Pearson family, said the family acknowledged “with the deepest of frustrations” the need to delay proceedings as they have “strongly held views about the quality of the first investigation”.
She added: “All they have ever wanted to know is the truth.” A full inquest, scheduled to last up to eight weeks, will take place from October 5 next year.
A further pre-inquest review hearing on October 9 this year was set by Timothy Brennand, HM Coroner for Manchester West.