Daily Mail - 27.08.2019

Page 26

Two years on,

mum who lost

4 children in

arson attack

dies from

her injuries

By Richard Marsden

Petrol bombed as they slept: Brandon, eight, Lacie, seven,

and Lia Pearson, three. Inset: their mother Michelle

THE mother of four children

murdered when their home

was petrol bombed has died

20 months after being severely

burned in the blaze.
Michelle Pearson, 37, had been
in hospital since the devastating
fire at her home in December

2017. The inferno killed four of
      her five children – Demi, 15, Bran-
      don, eight, Lacie, seven, and
      three-year-old Lia.
      Miss Pearson suffered 75 per cent
      burns in the blaze, which was so
      intense it melted the smoke alarms
      before they could go off. The mother,
      from Walkden in Greater Manches-
      ter, was unable to attend her chil-

dren’s funerals. Her death was

announced by her mother Sandra

Lever, who wrote on Facebook:

‘Sadly last night, after a hard 20

months of fighting, our beautiful

Michelle gained her wings and went

to join her babies.’

Last year, Zak Bolland, 22, and

David Worrall, 26, were jailed for life

after being convicted of four counts

of murder, with minimum terms of 40

and 37 years respectively. Bolland

was also found guilty of three counts

of attempted murder, while Worrall

was convicted of three counts of

attempted GBH with intent.

Bolland’s girlfriend Courtney Brier-

ley, then 21, was jailed for 21 years for

four counts of

manslaughter.

Given the number

of youngsters who

died, Bolland and

Worrall are Britain’s

worst child killers

since Moors murder-

ers Ian Brady and

Myra Hindley, who

killed five children

aged ten to 17 in the

early 1960s.

Serena Lister, who is

Lia’s aunt, said: ‘They

should definitely be

brought back to

court for Mich-

elle’s death. They

are responsible.’ And

‘Charge them

with her murder’

By Eleanor Harding

Education Editor

SIXTH formers at Britain’s

best-performing academy

chain are being urged to

reject all unconditional

offers from universities.

The Harris Federation is tell-

ing pupils not to be tempted

by cheap marketing ploys. It

says they are used by univer-

sities that are not members

of the elite Russell Group

because it is the only way

they can be ‘competitive’.

Unconditional offers guar-

antee students a place at

university regardless of their

A-level results. This year,

pupils at Harris schools got

307 unconditional offers but

very few accepted them. The

federation’s chief executive

Sir Dan Moynihan said: ‘Often

the universities offering

them have to do so to be

competitive. And we’re con-

stantly saying to our stu-

dents, “You can bid higher”.’

He is calling for an overhaul

of the system so pupils apply

for university after they have

received their results. The

Harris Federation, which runs

47 schools, has become

known for running successful

academies in deprived areas.

Now Armed Forces

in pension tax trap

By Francesca Washtell

City Correspondent

THOUSANDS of Armed

Forces personnel have been

stung by the same pension

reform blamed for fuelling

the NHS staffing crisis.

Almost 4,000 members of the

Armed Forces pension scheme

breached their annual allow-

ance in 2017-18. This puts

them at risk of five or six-fig-

ure tax bills under changes

introduced by former chancel-

lor George Osborne in 2016.

Under the ‘annual allowance

taper’, anyone earning more

than £110,000 a year will be hit

with a tax bill depending on

how much they pay in to their

pension annually. The higher

their salary and the more they

pay in, the heftier the bill. The

reform was intended to clamp

down on tax breaks to high

earners, but Armed Forces

chiefs warned that it is penal-

ising staff much lower down

the military hierarchy.

Four times as many people

breached the limit in 2017-

18 as the 1,010 who did in

2015-16, according to Minis-

try of Defence figures

obtained by the Financial

Times under a Freedom of

Information request.

The same rules are propel-

ling thousands of doctors into

early retirement and encour-

aging GPs to cut back on

shifts to avoid penalties.

Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecu-

tor for the North West, wrote on

Twitter: ‘Those convicted of the

murder of her children now need

to be charged with her murder.’

Manchester Crown Court last

year heard how Bolland had

been involved in a ‘petty’ feud

with Miss Pearson’s teenage son

Kyle over damage to a car,

prompting a series of tit-for-tat

police should have treated the

threats more seriously. The jury

heard that Bolland and Worrall

were fuelled by drink and drugs

as they filled two glass bottles

with £1.50 of petrol bought from

a forecourt, stuffing the tops

with tissue paper.

Two of the home-made weap-

ons were lobbed into the Pear-

sons’ three-bedroom home after

the kitchen window was

smashed. Bolland’s petrol bomb

‘exploded’ near the stairs, block-

ing the only exit to the ground

floor and trapping the victims

upstairs. Within seconds, flames

engulfed the house.

Miss Pearson woke up and

screamed: “Not the kids! Not my

kids!’ She then curled up in the

bath trying to shield Lia and

dialled 999. But she was over-

come with heat and smoke

before completing the call.

Kyle managed to escape with a

friend who was staying at the

house. Both jumped from an

upstairs window. Yesterday,

police chiefs said they were ‘liais-

ing’ with the Crown Prosecution

Service about whether the trio

jailed over the arson attack

should face further charges.

Detective Superintendent

Lewis Hughes, of Greater Man-

chester Police, said: ‘[On Sun-

day], we were made aware that

Michelle Pearson, who was seri-

ously injured in a house fire in

Walkden in 2017, passed away.

‘As the senior officer for the

investigation into the fire, I know

first hand how devastating the

death of her four children was

for Michelle and the news of her

passing is incredibly tragic.

‘I would like to extend my sin-

cere condolences to Michelle’s

loved ones at this terrible time.

We will ensure that they receive

any support they need from the

investigation team as they come

to terms with their loss.’

attacks, which escalated in seri-

ousness. The Pearsons had

received a series of threats and

their bin was set on fire before

the deadly arson attack as they

slept at 5am.

Mrs Pearson’s family say she

made repeated pleas to Salford

Council asking to be rehoused

due to the threats, but claim her

calls were ignored. They also say

Beware university

offer tricks, pupils told

V1 Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019