Two Men Found Guilty Of Killing Woman, Her Four Children In Petrol Bomb Attack

Two men have been found guilty of killing a 37-year-old woman by hurling petrol bombs at her house. The woman's four children also died in the incident.

Zak Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, were found guilty by the jurors at a U.K. court Wednesday, The Bolton News reported. The duo was earlier convicted of murdering the children.

The incident happened on Dec. 11, 2017. While the four children were killed on the spot, the mother, Michelle Pearson, died in August 2019 after spending 20 months in a hospital. Her eldest son, Kyle, escaped unhurt. The attack was the result of a "tit for tat" feud between Kyle and Bolland, prosecutors told the Manchester Crown Court.

Kyle and Bolland were friends but the issues started after someone set fire to the latter's blue Peugeot. Bolland blamed Kyle for it and demanded £500 ($686.24) as compensation. Kyle denied any involvement in the incident.

Prosecutor Paul Reid told the court that Bolland smashed Pearsons' front windows in retaliation. Kyle then went to Bolland's family home with his friends and smashed the windows.

An altercation broke out between the duo, which involved weapons, Kyle was heard saying in a recorded interview played to the jury. Police were watching the incident unfold from a vehicle, he told the investigators.

Their fight escalated in the coming days. A wheelie bin outside Pearson's home was set on fire. In return, graffiti calling Bolland a "nonce" and a "grass" was spray-painted across the town of Walkden.

During the trial, Kyle said: "We were retaliating to what he did. It was just what he did, we retaliated."

He also spoke about the texts Bolland sent him before the attacks that said "fire letter box" and "I will petrol bomb your house tonight." He said he regarded them as empty threats and deleted them, opting not to tell his mother. Kyle was using his mother's phone at the time as he did not own one.

On the day of the crime, Bolland and friends knocked on Pearson's home around midnight. He left after threatening her, only to return around five in the morning with Worrall. They hurled petrol bombs at the family's kitchen. CCTV visuals showed the duo lifting up a fence and approaching the home.

A huge blaze broke out and the two were seen running away. Pearson and her four children were trapped inside the house while Kyle managed to escape. The woman suffered 65% burns and died 20 months later. Her children, aged 15, 8, 7 and 3, died in the arson.