Possible gang threat to family not reviewed, inquest hears
Family handoutA police safeguarding team did not review new intelligence about possible gang threats to a family before a fatal arson attack because it did not work weekends at the time, an inquest has heard.
Four children died after their home in Walkden, Salford, was firebombed on 11 December 2017. Their mother, Michelle Pearson, died of her injuries 20 months later, aged 37.
Det Sgt Alison Barber said information received by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on the Friday before the attack would not have been seen until the Monday, after the fire.
Barber told Bolton Coroners' Court police safeguards were in place and "nothing much would have changed" if the reports had been reviewed.
The court heard Michelle's son Kyle feared he was being targeted by a Salford gang called the A-Team.
Barber, a senior officer in a police team responsible for protecting relatives of people whose lives were thought to be threatened by organised crime groups, said she had known about Kyle's concerns before the fire.
She said the possible gang connection had caused "significant concern" because of the gang's involvement in "disputes [and] threats to life", but she could find no evidence to corroborate his fears.
The inquest heard intelligence received by GMP on Friday 8 December suggested Kyle's concerns stemmed from an incident in which his brother had attacked members of the A-Team with weapons.
On the same day, police also received claims Kyle was being "sought by the A-Team due to owing money for drugs" and that his sister Demi had been "chased by female members of the gang".
The court heard police had also received information suggesting members of the gang had been asked to drive past the Pearson home as part of a dispute between Kyle and Zak Bolland.
Four men in a Renault Clio later drove past the house, the court was told.
Barber said she had not been aware of that information until after the fire and did not believe it was credible that the gang had been "commissioned" to drive past the property.
She said Bolland was not known to be a member of the A-Team.
Barber said her team did not work weekends at the time, meaning intelligence received on the Friday would not have been reviewed until the following Monday.
That, she said, "unfortunately would have been after the fire".
She told the court the family already had some protection, including a marker on police systems prioritising their home for urgent responses.
This was linked to separate concerns that Bolland might have been connected to a police investigation into shootings in Little Hulton, rather than the reports involving the A-Team, she said.
Barber said even with the additional gang intelligence, the risk to the family's lives would have been assessed as "low".
PC Gemma Quinn said she believed threats made by Bolland were "empty threats" and did not think it necessary to arrest him immediately.
She told the court she had planned to arrest him two days later.
PC Mike Grundy earlier told the inquest "nothing" had been done to keep the family safe in the hours before the attack.
Demi Pearson, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and sisters Lacie, seven, and Lia, three, died in the fire.
Bolland and David Worrall were jailed for life in 2018 for murdering the children and were subsequently convicted of Michelle's murder in 2021.
Bolland received a minimum prison term of 40 years and Worrall a minimum of 37 years.
The inquest, which began on 5 October, is examining Michelle's contact with police and social services in the weeks leading up to the fire.
It is scheduled to last eight weeks.
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