Inquest Reveals Police Safeguarding Visit Preceded Fatal Firebombing of Mother and Four Children
An inquest examines police contact with a mother and her four children prior to their deaths in a fatal arson attack. Discover the latest findings here.
POLICY WIRE — Walkden, United Kingdom — An inquest into the tragic deaths of a mother and her four children has revealed that police from a safeguarding unit visited the family home shortly before they were killed in a petrol-bomb attack.
The proceedings heard that the children had been living in a state of terror due to a string of prior attacks on their residence. The victims included 15-year-old Demi Pearson and her eight-year-old brother, Brandon, alongside their sisters.
Evidence presented at the Bolton Coroner’s Court highlighted that the perpetrator, 26-year-old Zak Bolland, had been released by a judge just 13 days before the murders. Bolland had been processed at a police station following a 12-minute interview where he offered no comment regarding charges related to smashing windows at the home of 37-year-old Michelle Pearson.
The attacks on the Jackson Street property were part of an escalating feud. A police officer who attended the scene hours before the fatal arson admitted to the inquest that, in an ideal world, it would have been preferable to arrest the individual who had been issuing threats against the family.
The same officer testified that she had dismissed the perpetrator’s behavior as empty threats at the time of her visit. The inquest continues to examine the sequence of events leading up to the firebombing that claimed the lives of the mother and her four children.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
