Mum-of-six died holding a photo of her four murdered children, Walkden petrol bomb inquest hears

From the Newshound archive · first published 5 October 2026 · last updated 6 October 2026.

Michelle Pearson, 37, died in hospital in August 2019 clutching a photograph of her four children — Demi, 15, Brandon, eight, Lacie, seven, and Lia, three — who had been killed when Zak Bolland and David Worrall firebombed the family's Jackson Street home in Walkden, Salford, in December 2017. She died after a 'lengthy and courageous' fight, having sustained burns across 68 per cent of her body and remaining in a coma for months; as she passed, her family placed a crucifix in her hand. The inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court, expected to last eight weeks, is examining whether authorities missed chances to save the family.

Michelle had been 'pleading with' Salford Council to rehouse her, but the council told her she did not meet the criteria for emergency housing.

Her son Kyle, who escaped the blaze, told the inquest: 'The police didn't do anything' despite Michelle calling them on five separate occasions.

The family believes the deaths were 'wholly preventable' and the coroner will examine whether there was 'any predictable threat to life' that authorities could have acted on.