Family handoutThe police watchdog is set to reinvestigate events in the weeks before a family were murdered in an arson attack on their home, a court has heard.
The house fire in Walkden, Greater Manchester, claimed the lives of Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia, three, in December 2017.
Their mother, Michelle Pearson, 37, suffered extensive burns injuries and “clung on to life” until she died 20 months later.
A full inquest into their deaths has been delayed until next year as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) takes a fresh look at the family’s prior contact with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) involving incidents and threats from their killers.
The original IOPC report, which was completed in 2019 but not made public, had been shared with GMP, the coroner and members of the Pearson family.
GMP later notified the watchdog of “some concerns” over the probe and in January this year asked for it to be reviewed.
At a pre-inquest hearing, Nicholas Flanagan, representing the IOPC, said a decision had been made to reinvestigate and the 2019 report consequently had “no legal standing”.
He told Bolton Coroner’s Court: “This is effectively a brand new, fresh investigation into all matters.”
The trial of her killers heard Ms Pearson had “begged” to be rehoused and called police on five occasions in the two weeks before the fatal attack on Jackson Street on 11 December 2017.
The first IOPC probe examined the contact between GMP and Ms Pearson and her family from 26 November to the night of the attack.
It included reports to the force about property being damaged at Ms Pearson’s home, and further threats to damage the house.
The actions of officers who attended the scene of the blaze did not form part of the investigation, the IOPC said.
Police handoutAnna Morris, representing the Pearson family, told the court the family acknowledged “with the deepest of frustrations” the need to delay inquest proceedings as they had “strongly held views about the quality of the first investigation”.
A full inquest, scheduled to last up to eight weeks, will take place from 5 October 2026 with a pre-inquest hearing to be held on 9 October this year.
Zak Bolland and David Worrall were jailed for life for the murders and are serving at least 40 and 37 years respectively for the petrol bomb attack.
Bolland’s girlfriend Courtney Brierley was jailed for a minimum of 21 years for manslaughter of the children and later further sentenced over the death of Ms Pearson at Manchester Crown Crown Court.
All three followed the inquest proceedings on remote links from custody.
Following the hearing, Catherine Bates from the IOPC said the commission was “extremely conscious” of the impact that reopening the investigation would have on “all those involved”.
She said “no stone will be left unturned” in the reinvestigation.
