Two people have been charged with the murders of three children who died in an arson attack on their home in Salford.



Zac Bolland, 23, and Courtney Brierley, 20, are charged with three counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one of arson with intent to endanger life.

The pair were due to appear at Manchester and Salford magistrates court on Wednesday, Greater Manchester police said.

14-year-old Demi Pearson, eight-year-old Brandon Pearson and seven-year-old Lacie Pearson – died in the attack in the Walkden area of the city on Monday morning.

Their three-year-old sister, Lia, and mother, Michelle Pearson, 35, remain in hospital following the “targeted” attack, police have said.

Relatives have said the family were living in fear of an attack for two weeks and had reportedly tightened security at their home, including having a device fitted by firefighters to their letterbox to prevent flammable materials being poured through.

Detectives are investigating whether the suspects scaled scaffolding outside the home to pour an accelerant down the chimney of the family home on Jackson Street.

Ch Supt Wayne Miller said the police were treating the incident as a targeted attack after recovering CCTV from the area. He thanked the members of the public who had come forward with information, saying the force now had a “much deeper understanding of the devastating events”.

“The loss of a child in any circumstance is unthinkable, to lose three in such deplorable circumstances words cannot describe,” said Miller. “My heart breaks for them, it really does. We’re doing all that we can to get them the answers they quite rightly deserve.”

The police confirmed there had been earlier incidents at the address and it is understood police were called to a separate incident at the property at about 2am, three hours before the fire.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is standard practice when someone dies after contact with the police.

A relative of Pearson said the mother-of-six “begged and begged to be moved” before the fatal blaze.

Writing on social media, the relative said Pearson “stayed at family member’s houses because she was that afraid” and said she should have been better protected.

She added: “How one single person can take your whole family from you. Broken is not the word.”

The Pearson family home is run by City West Housing Trust. A spokesman said that the trust had not received an application for the family to move.

