Seven years after the devastating fire that tore a family apart they might finally get answers

Seven years after an ‘atrocity’ that killed a mother, Michelle Pearson, and four of her children, her family may at last get answers about their tragic deaths.

A date has finally been set for the inquest into the devastating deaths of the Walkden angels, set to take place more than seven years after the horrific arson attack. The despicable arson attack saw petrol bombs thrown through the window of Michelle Pearson’s Jackson Street home in Walkden in December 2017.

Four of Michelle’s six children — Demi Pearson, 14, Brandon, aged eight, seven-year-old Lacie, and younger sister Lia, three — did not survive. Their mum, Michelle, died from her injuries almost two years later in August 2019 aged 37, spending her final months in hospital and a care home.

READ MORE: Mum of Michelle Pearson brands her killers 'cowardly monsters' after their murder convictions

Today (August 6), a pre-inquest review hearing at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard a provisional date be set for the final inquest, ending the court process around the family murders. The final hearing is set to last four weeks, starting May 27 2025 – coroner Timothy Brennand said the family ‘deserves to have a number of important milestones put into the diary to manage expectations’.

Members of the Pearson family gathered in court today for the first review of the case in some time. Michelle’s mother Sandra Lever, along with Michelle’s sister Claire, united with other family members to hear the latest updates to the proceedings.

The family’s legal representatives told the court how Michelle ‘survived for almost two years after the atrocity and was cared for in a care home for a number of months’.

The legal representative added that Michelle’s family ‘has concerns