[FONT=&]10:18SIMON SMITH[/FONT] [FONT=&]Bomb scare at court
Were waiting for the trial to start again this morning, but this has happened. There has been a bomb threat to the court, and the building is being evacuated. Were covering the incident live, here...
[FONT=&]10:36SIMON SMITH[/FONT] [FONT=&]People now being allowed back in court
This is what we are now reporting about the bomb threat.
The whole building has been searched and people are now getting back into the building - the threat has been deemed not credible. Police sources say that it was a hoax.
[FONT=&]10:48ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]'Bigger than usual' police presence
There is already a bigger police presence than usual at court because of the ongoing Walkden fire trial.
Officers quickly responded and blocked off public entrances to court.
Im back in court now and going about my usual day! Like nothing ever happened.
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[FONT=&]10:53ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]Update from Greater Manchester Police
A new update from GMP:
Shortly before 9.45am police were called to Crown Square to reports of a bomb threat.
A search was carried out and nothing suspicious was found.
The court has now reopened.
Enquiries are ongoing.
[FONT="]11:26JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]CCTV footage from the night[/h]The jury is back in and the trial has resumed.
The first witness of the day is Matthew Dickinson, a GMP investigator who is explaining CCTV footage from December 10 and 11 last year.
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[FONT="]12:48JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]CCTV shows four figures walking into Jackson Street - then leaving six minutes later[/h]A DVD compilation of a number of CCTV clips was played to the jury.
The first clip shows the three defendants and two others going into an off-licence where two crates of Budweiser beer are brought on Sunday evening.
Other clips show Abigail Toone’s Fiat Punto making a series of trips after midnight.
The jurors have previously heard she was looking for her on-off boyfriend and went to his friend Zak Bolland’s house on Blackleach Drive in a vain bid to find him.
At around 00.38am a clip show four figures walking along Worsley Road North into Jackson Street and then walking away again six minutes later.
Michelle Pearson dialled 999 at 00.45am reporting that Zak Bolland had kicked he door and David Worrall had struck it with a metal bar.
The jury has previoulsy heard that Mr Bolland is alleged to have said: “Get your son out here, boot the door off, I am going to break his jaw. I am going to do your house.”
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[FONT="]12:54JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]CCTV shows defendants buying petrol in gerry can - jury shown receipt[/h]The Punto is seen heading towards a Texaco garage on the East Lancs Road at 3.11am.
Two men, Mr Bolland and Mr Worrall, are seen getting out of the car to buy alcohol, the jurors are told.
The car is seen driving towards a BP petrol station om Long Causeway at 4.30am.
The jurors have previously heard how it parked up on a dark side street with no camera on it.
Zak Bolland and David Worrall buy fuel from the petrol station, the court hears.
Mr Bolland is seen carrying a green gerry can and they pay for the fuel before filling the can at one of the pumps, the court was told.
The jurors are shown a receipt for 1.23 litres of fuel costing £1.50.
The Punto is seen driving away from the area at 4.35am only to return three minutes later.
The jury has previously heard that they returned to retrieve gloves left behind by David Worrall and the car left the area a second time at 4.41am.
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[FONT="]13:05JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'Two figures walking along Jackson Street at 4.52am'[/h]The Punto is seen returning to Blackleach Drive at 4.42am and then leaves again nine minutes later.
The jurors have previously heard that Zak Bolland and David Worrall went into Mr Bolland’s home and returned with two or four bottles with tissues in the top while Courtney Brierley waiting in the car with Abigail Toone, the driver.
The Punto is seen leaving Blackleach Drive at at 4.51am before turning into Grosvenor Road and passing Jackson Street.
At 4.52am, a clip is shown which shows two figures walking along Jackson Street, having allegedly been dropped off, and then a minute later they are seen walking into Central Avenue.
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[FONT="]13:16JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Footage shows two 'explosions' and figures running away[/h]Footage which shows the rear of the house on Jackson Street was played to the jury.
Timed at 4.55am, it shows two figures walking towards a fence panel.
One appears to stoop and then a moments later slides the fence panel up and out of its moorings.
The figures can be seen going into the back garden of the house before two flashes can be seen, described as explosions by the prosecution.
After the first, smaller flash one figure can be seen running out of the garden and away.
Following a much bigger, second flash of light, the second figure is seen running away.
This figure first runs towards a fence panel that hasn’t been removed before trying again and going through the gap they have created and also running away.
At 4.56am, two figures are seen getting into the Punto on nearby Alexandra Road before it returns to Blackleach Drive.
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Jacob Berry, who was a friend of David Worrall who had known him for six or seven years, tells the jurors about the day after the fire, saying that Mr Worrall had agreed to help his girlfriend move house.
Mr Berry said he and his girlfriend went to pick up Mr Worrall at Jordan Taylors house on Grosvenor Road at about 3pm.
He said he beeped his horn and that Mr Worrall came out about ten minutes later carrying a draw-string bag with a black JD logo on it.
Mr Berrys girlfriend asked Mr Worrall what was in the bag and he suggested it was his clothes or something, the court heard.
The jurors were told they went to Mr Berrys girlfriends house to unload the car, helped by Mr Worrall.
Mr Berry said he noticed an update about the fire on the M.E.N. app on his phone and is said to have told Mr Worrall: Have you seen this? Where is Jackson Street?
The witness told the court he didnt ask his friend who had done it at this point.
Later, the jurors are told, Mr Worrall is alleged to have said: I know whos done it. Zak and Courtney.
[/FONT][FONT=&]15:16JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT=&]Worrall's friend: He said he wasnt there. Because it was my mate, I believed him
Mr Berry told the court Mr Worrall said there had been a bit of trouble with someone else.
His friend told him the incident wasnt at Jackson Street, the court heard.
He said he wasnt there. Because it was my mate, I believed him, Mr Berry told the court. His friend had said he didnt do it.
The jurors are told about a statement Mr Berry gave to police on December 16 in which he said: Dave said I know who did it.
His friend, according to the statement, had mentioned he was there during a bit of trouble four or five hours before the fire.
Mr Berry said Mr Worrall shrugged off his suggestion he ring police or Crimestoppers.
The witness told the court he only realised the scale of the incident further on in the day.
Mr Worrall, according to the witness, feared they were all going to get the blame for it.
Mr Berry continued that his friend was worried that he wouldnt get to see his kid if he gets the blame for it and that it wasnt him.
[/FONT][FONT=&]15:41JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT=&]Friend says he encouraged Mr Worrall to go to police
Mr Berry agreed police were looking for him because of his connection to David Worrall. He said he himself wasnt wanted for anything but said the police kept harassing him and his girlfriend.
The witness agreed he encouraged Mr Worrall to get in touch with the police.
He said:
Hes a quiet guy. So I rang the police and pretended to be him to see if hes wanted but they said he wasnt wanted. I said you better hand yourself into the police station. I wanted nothing to do with it... The police kept coming looking for him.
Mr Berry found out on a radio report later in the day that three children had died in the fire, the jurors were told.
Mr Worrall, according to the witness, had said Zak had thrown a petrol bomb into the window.
Mr Berry said he noticed that he saw dripping wet items in the draw-string bag including what he thought was Zak Bollands hat. Other items in the bag were two smashed up phones, a coat and trainers, the court heard.
[/FONT][FONT=&]15:57JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT=&]Mr Worrall 'adamant' that he was not there
Under cross-examination by Peter Wright QC, defending Zak Bolland, Mr Berry agreed Mr Worrall had told him he was adamant he was not involved in the fire and wasnt there when it was set on fire.
Asked if his friend had told him a bare-faced lie, Mr Berry said: Could be.
He denied he was trying to do the best for your mate now.
Mr Berry agreed he read out an update on the M.E.N. app about the fire to Mr Worrall. Asked if he appeared shocked, he said: Not really.
His friend had said he knew who did it and Mr Berry is said to have told him you better not have *advertiser censored**ing been there. He was adamant he was not, Mr Berry told the court.
The jurors are told that in his statement to police Mr Berry said he asked why Zak and Courtney had done it and Mr Worrall is said to have replied: Because of all that s**t thats gone on between them.
Mr Berry agreed his friend Mr Worrall had promised him he wasnt there.
The QC said: At no stage did he say he was there but that it was down to anyone else doing the fatal acts, did he?
No, replied Mr Berry.
“I thought ‘he’s going to set a bin on fire... He’s gone straight to the window and smashed it. You will see on the CCTV I ran off well before him. I thought ‘I can’t be part of this when there’s kids in the house’.
“I ran off. I could not have any part of it. I was so scared.”
[FONT=&]The jurors are told that Mr Worrall cried as he described how he ran off up the ginnel towards Abigail Toone’s car.[/FONT] [FONT=&]“He’s supposed to just set the *advertiser censored**ing bin on fire,” he told police. He continued: “I thought I can’t be here. It’s *advertiser censored**ing hell’. So I ran to the car like I needed to go.”[/FONT] [FONT=&]He described how Zak got into the car Courtney Brierley shouted ‘drive drive drive’.[/FONT] [FONT=&]Mr Worrall said Mr Bolland had called him a ‘*advertiser censored**ing s**tbag’ for running off. He said he ‘just wanted to go somewhere’ and that they went to Jordan Taylor’s home where Mr Bolland knocked on the door to ‘bang him out of bed’.[/FONT] [FONT=&]Zak Bolland, according to Mr Worrall, was sitting on the couch saying: “What the *advertiser censored** have I done?”[/FONT] [FONT=&]Mr Worrall said he ‘broke down’ and said he had a drink with Jacob Berry ‘to calm myself down’.[/FONT] [FONT=&]The next morning he said he felt ‘disgusted’ that he ‘needed to tell them’.[/FONT] [FONT=&]Crying, he told police officers that they didn’t know how Zak was and added: “I just don’t want to be labelled a grass or anything that happens to me and my family.”
[/FONT][FONT=&]16:54JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT=&]David Worrall: Dispute between Kyle Pearson and Zak Bolland was ‘*advertiser censored****g childish’
Mr Worrall told police that the dispute between Kyle Pearson and Zak Bolland was ‘*advertiser censored**ing childish’ and that they were doing things to each other’s houses and bins rather than sorting their differences between themselves.
“I would say they are as bad as each other. It just goes back and forth, going on and on and on. With them living near each other, it’s just easier for them to do it to each other,” Mr Worrall told the police.
Mr Worrall told police that Zak Bolland only had one bottle. “I’m so scared. I wouldn’t dream of lying to you,” he said. He added later in the interview: “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. I didn’t.”
He claimed he didn’t wear any gloves that night although later he said he wasn’t 100 per cent sure.
Mr Worrall said the gloves which Abigail Toone said had been left behind near the petrol station and which were retrieved belonged to Zak Bolland, not him.
He denied he had come out of Zak Bolland’s home with a bottle as was claimed by Abigail Toone.
He admitted he would help in lifting the fence but that was all.
Later in the interview he admitted to having an axe but he said he had not lied about anything else.
[/FONT][FONT=&]16:54JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT=&]Jury sent home - trial resumes tomorrow morning
The jury is sent home and the trial resumes at 10.30am tomorrow
[FONT=&]10:35ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]Defendants back in the dock
The defendants are back in the dock, and the barristers are all assembled in court.
The judge has also just come back into court.
The jury has come back in and the trial is starting again for its sixth day as the prosecution evidence continues.
Transcripts of David Worralls police interviews are being read to the jurors.
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[FONT=&]10:49ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]'I just thought he was going to set a load of bins on fire'
David Worrall
In the interview with police Mr Worrall told police he thought Mr Bolland was going to set a bin on fire.
Mr Worrall said Mr Bolland had two beer bottles and a machete.
Mr Worrall also said he had an axe.
Mr Worrall said:
I just thought he was going to set a load of bins on fire.
I was drunk. I just thought thats all he (Mr Bolland) was going to do.
Asked why he had an axe with him Mr Worrall said:
I just carried it as he (Mr Bolland) said. I didnt go there wanting him (Mr Bolland) to hurt anyone. That was not my intention.
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[FONT=&]10:54ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]'I just thought he was going to burn the kitchen or something'
Zak Bolland, Courtney Brierley and David Worrall in court (Image: PA)
Mr Worrall said:
I went after the first one (petrol bomb). That was bad enough.
I didnt want to be a part of all that stuff.
I just thought it was going to burn the kitchen or something. Thats all I assumed.
Mr Worrall said Mr Bolland called him a s***bag because I ran off in the car after.He said they went back to Mr Bollands house.
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[FONT=&]11:08ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT=&]'Did you talk about what just happened?'
Mr Worrall, Mr Bolland and Ms Brierley later went to a friends house, the jury are told.
Did you talk about what just happened?, the officer asked.
No, Mr Worrall replied.
Mr Worrall said Mr Bolland was on edge.
Thats why he went quiet, Mr Worrall said.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]12:08ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Worrall says he heard news of deaths on the radio[/h]Mr Worrall was asked by police ‘did you know that there had has been fatalities in the fire?’
“No,” Mr Worrall said.
“When did you find out?” police asked.
“When I got in the car because it was on the radio,” Mr Worrall replied.
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[FONT="]12:17ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'I didn't think he would take it out on the family'[/h]Police told Mr Worrall that Mr Bolland denied being involved.
Mr Worrall replied: “I don’t know how he can say that.”
Officers put it to Mr Worrall that he must have realised that the fire could have got worse.
Mr Worrall said:
“I didn’t think he (Mr Bolland) would do that to someone’s house.
“I don’t even know anyone that would be capable of doing summat that bad.
“I didn’t think he would take it out on the family.”
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[FONT="]12:19ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'I was just being stupid'[/h]The officer said Mr Worrall was trying to portray himself as someone who was ‘a bit drunk’ and ‘a bit daft’.
The officer added that Mr Worrall said he was ‘frightened ‘ of Mr Bolland.
They asked Mr Worrall why he didn’t run off.
Later Mr Worrall said: “I was just being stupid.”
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[FONT="]12:25ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Agreed facts: Two petrol bombs were thrown through broken window[/h]The jury are now hearing from Dr Robert Lewis, a forensic scientist.
Before that prosecutor Paul Reid QC is telling the jury about some agreed facts about the cause of the fire.
He says the kitchen window of the house was smashed and two improvised petrol bombs were thrown into the house through the broken window.
Mr Reid is telling the jury how petrol bombs, or Molotov cocktails, are constructed.
He said the larger of the two petrol bombs caused the most damage.
Mr Reid said it ignited near the living room door before spreading and engulfing the upper floor of the house.
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[FONT="]12:27ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'No scientific evidence' to link Worrall or Bolland to the bottles[/h]Mr Reid adds that there is no scientific evidence to link Mr Worrall or Mr Bolland to the area at the back of Jackson Street, or to the bottles thrown into the house.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]13:02ANDREW BARDSLEY[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Machete 'found at shed at a neighbour of Mr Bolland'[/h]The next witness is Jonathan Robinson, another forensic scientist.
He is giving evidence in relation to the recovery of two pairs of work gloves and a machete from a shed at the rear of a property on Blackleach Drive in Walkden, at a neighbour of Mr Bolland’s.
The jury were shown the blade, estimated to be about 18ins, which was housed in a plastic container.
They are told there was no forensic link found between the machete and any of the three defendants.
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[FONT="]15:14[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Court hears from GMP crime analyst over mobile phone messages[/h]The jurors hear from Sally Hogg, a GMP crime analyst, who explains communication involving the defendants.
They hear about a series of calls and messages made on November 26, when Zak Bolland is said to have demanded £500 from Michelle Pearson.
The court has heard he believed her son Kyle was behind the attack on a car.
Zak Bolland’s mobile phone sent a message to Michelle Pearson’s phone which said: “You owe me five ton today no matter what you bunch of rats.”
Later that day Zak Bolland is said to have gone to the house on Jackson Street with a hammer and smashed the front windows and two panes from the front door.
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[FONT="]15:17[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Court hears about messages sent between Zak Bolland's phone and Courtney Brierley's phone[/h]The jurors heard that Kyle Pearson wasted no time in retaliating and went to Mr Bolland’s home with his friend Bobby Harris and others armed with a golf club and a wooden stick, smashing the glass in the living room window and the front door.
Courtney Brierley, the jurors have previously heard, was ‘knocked out’ after she had come out of the house on Blackleach Drive with a hammer and an axe.
Zak Bolland’s pitbul type dog was set loose during the incident.
After Michelle Pearson called police, the court heard Zak Bolland’s phone sent a message to his girfriend Courtney Brierley saying: “I’m wanted now babe. She’s grassed me up.”
Miss Brierley is said to have responded that she had just had an x-ray and had refused stitches.
“You will still be beautiful with a scar babe. You will have to get him done for it otherwise I’m going to jail for six months,” Mr Bolland’s phone replied.
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[FONT="]15:30[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'Just going to get interviewed and get bail and smack the grass'[/h]​In messages his phone sent the following day, Zak Bolland is said to have complained that Michelle Pearson had ‘put a statement in against me’ and later​ said ‘the feds just been’.
His phone also sent a message to Courtney Brierley’s phone which said: “Big mistake this for the innit. Just going to get interviewed and get bail and smack the grass.”
On November 29, Mr Bolland’s phone sent another message to a friend Joanne which said: “Got NFA (no further action). Ha ha ha. Michelle proper put a statement in.”
Joanne’s phone replied: “Ha ha the *advertiser censored**ing grass. At keast you got *advertiser censored**ing nfa.”
Mr Bolland’s phone replied: “I know. I’m buzzing. She’s a stupid **** and I’m going to let everyone know she’s a grass.”
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[FONT="]15:38[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Michelle Pearson called police to report threats, jury hears[/h]On December 11, the court heard Michelle Pearson called police at 0.45am to report that Zak Bolland and others had been threatening her and throwing things at her house.
At 2.11am Zak Bolland’s phone is said to have called David Worrall’s phone but was not connected.
By 4.14am Mr Bolland’s phone twice called Michelle Pearson’s phone but didn’t get through.
Michelle Pearson made a 999 call at 4.56am but the call was disconnected part of the way through.
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Prosecution case has finished. 1st defendant on the stand.
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[FONT="]12:40CHRIS SLATER[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland is being questioned about his dispute with the Pearson family[/h]The trial has resumed and the defences of the defendants are due to begin their cases.
Zak Bolland is the first of the defendants to give evidence in the trial.
He is sat down in the witness box, wearing a navy coloured top, and is to be questioned by his barrister, Peter Wright QC.
After the jury are brought back into court, he stands up, takes the oath and then sits back down.
He says last autumn he was living at his address on Blackleach Drive in Walkden with his mum, step father, two of his three brothers and girlfriend Courtney Brierley.
He said at that point they had been in a relationship for just over a year.
He also says he was local to the area and he knew the Pearson family.
When asked by Mr Wright, he says a ‘dispute’ began between him (also involving others) and some members of the Pearson family.
“It resulted in my car getting set on fire” he says and adds “something was tipped on it and set alight.”
He had only bought it the day before and Kyle Pearson and Bobby Harris were the only people, along with Courtney, who knew kind of car he had, as he had given him a lift to the shop the day before.
He says after his car was torched, he began ringing Kyle asking for the money.
He also says Michelle Pearson became involved.
Asked how she became involved he said: “I brought her into it as she’s Kyle mum. She was telling me I am not getting the money.”
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]13:04CHRIS SLATER[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Bolland is asked about the earlier wheelie bin fire - he says he was 'angry'[/h]Mr Bolland is being taken through the series of events leading up to the fire by Mr Wright, including windows being broken at Mrs Pearson’s home.
A group of people also turned up at his house, of which he believes Kyle Pearson was one, and he said he and Courtney went out to confront them with hammers.
Mr Bolland says police were looking for him to speak to him about the broken windows and he hid in a neighbour’s house before handing himself into police a couple of days later.
The court has heard no further action was taken over that.
He is now talking about setting fire to a wheelie bin outside the Pearson family home on Saturday 9th December. This is a separate incident to the fatal fire.
He says he set fire to rubbish in the bin but didn’t use an accelerant.
He says he was ‘angry’ at the time but asked why he used fire he says “I’m not too sure.”
Mr Bolland says he was drunk and had been taking drugs at the time.
He says he moved away from the house and didn’t realise the extent of the fire until the following day.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]14:23CHRIS SLATER[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland is being asked about night before the fatal arson attack[/h]Mr Bolland is being asked about the night of Sunday, December 10 - the night before the fatal arson attack.
He says a group of friends including co-defendant David Worrall, came round to his house that evening after they had been out watching the Manchester derby.
Mr Bolland says he hadn’t watched it, but woke up and started drinking with them.
He says after a while they decided to go round to the Pearson’s home.
This is the first of the two visits to the home the prosecution allege were made that night by Mr Bolland and Mr Worrall.
He says: “We were talking about the events that had been happening and it got me quite angry again so we decided to go and see if Kyle was there.”
Asking what he wanted to do to him he replies “cause injury.”
He says Mr Worrallwas “hyped” at that stage.
He says he wasn’t carrying anything but Mr Worrall had a metal pole up his sleeve as they left.
And he says when they arrived he knocked on the door but Mr Worrall started to smash the door with the pole.
He says Mrs Pearson came to the window and it appeared she was filming them.
They eventually left and went back to his (Mr Bolland’s) house.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]14:38[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Bolland saw police car outside the Pearson home[/h]Mr Bolland is asked why they then went back out (driven by Abigail Toone as the court has previously heard) and took a different route via Jackson Street.
“I wanted to see if the police had been called” he said.
Mr Bolland says as they drove past, and slowed down outside the Pearson home, he could see a police car.
He says he couldn’t see anyone inside it so he said to the others in the car at the time, Ms Toone and Courtney Brierley: “The police must be taking them into protection.”
Asked by his barrister Mr Wright QC why he thought that he says: “The incident had happened quite a while earlier and the police seemed to have been there a while, so I thought they must be packing stuff then going.”
Pressed on why he thought they would need taking into protection he said: “Because four males had been round to the house kicking off and that was something they normally did.”
He says he could see ‘movement’ and ‘shadows’ inside but ‘didn’t physically see anyone.’
Mr Bolland says they carried on looking for Ms Toone’s partner and went back to Mr Bolland’s, again via Jackson Street.
He says they didn’t stop or slow down but they could see a police car was still outside.
Mr Bolland says the mood at that stage when he went back was ‘joyful.’
They later went out, again in Ms Toone’s car, to drop two of Mr Bolland’s friends off.
At this point Mr Bolland says he was “high on drugs” having cocaine and was also drunk.
He was asked what his mood was like.
“It was changing between being happy and wound-up” he says.
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[FONT="]14:42[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Worrall told Mr Bolland 'well why don’t you do it back?'[/h]Mr Bolland says himself and Mr Worrall, who he refers to as Dave, were talking about ‘what they had done to my house, my car and to Courtney.’
He says Mr Worrall said: “Well why don’t you do it back?”
Asked what he meant Mr Bolland says: “Go and tip petrol back on their house.”
He adds: “I instantly thought it was the right thing to do. So I said shall we do it and Dave said yes.”
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[FONT="]15:01[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Two bottles filled with petrol were thrown into kitchen[/h]Mr Bolland admits he picked up an 18 inch machete before they left the house to get petrol from a filling station.
Asked why he did that he replies: “Protection”.
Adding: “If someone pulls out a knife and I pull out something bigger they are going to run off.”
Mr Bolland says he and the others were discussing how to attack the house, whether to “just tip petrol on it or throw it in.”
He adds shortly afterwards: “because we thought no one was home we thought it would be a better idea to throw it through.”
He says they then went back to his house and he Mr Worrall and Miss Brierley went back inside.
Mr Bolland said she bought tissue paper down from the toilet and they used a funnel to fill first a vodka bottle and then a beer bottle with petrol and he stuffed tissue into the top of them.
Mr Bolland says he was only carrying the larger vodka bottle when they left the house again.
He said the machete was in the back of the car.
Mr Bolland says the car drove off after dropping him off near Jackson Street.
He says he had the machete down his pants and one bottle in his hand.
Mr Bolland says Mr Worrall had an axe and the other bottle.
Before he left the car he says Miss Brierley said to him “be quick. Hurry up and get it done.”
He says: “We said we’ll just set the kitchen on fire so we went to the back.”
Mr Bolland says he told Mr Worrall to smash the window so he passed him the second bottle, smashed the window, and he passed him the second bottle back.
He says Mr Worrall threw the beer bottle into the kitchen through the broken window but it didn’t seem to light.
Mr Bolland says: “He ran as soon as he threw his through.”
He says he lit the tissue on the vodka bottle and at first it was “only a little flame” but “it started to get bigger so I just threw it.”
He says he started to run off and heard a big ‘whoosh.’
“I didn’t look back I just carried on running” he says.
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[FONT="]15:04[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]"I didn’t think it would be occupied. I assumed the police had taken them into protection"[/h]Asked by Mr Wright if the thought the property was occupied at the time he says: “I didn’t think it would be occupied.
“I assumed the police had taken them into protection.”
Asked by Mr Wright if he ever considered someone might be inside he said: “It was all so rushed we didn’t have a second to think what-if.”
Asked again if he considered the property “might be occupied” Mr Bolland says ‘No’.
He says he was drunk, high on cocaine, and was ‘rushing the whole situation’.
He adds: “I didn’t think Kyle was there. I was just doing bad to them as they had done to me by setting property on fire.”
He’s asked directly if he wanted to kill anyone that night.
“That was never my intention whatsoever” he says.
He says he only found the premises was occupied and that people had been harmed “a good six, seven, eight hours later.”
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[FONT="]15:06[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland said he was 'devastated' after finding out children had died[/h]Asked how he felt when he was informed, by his mother, that children had died, Mr Bolland says: “I was devastated. I didn’t believe it.
“I put the phone down. Me and Courtney sat there. I had my head in my hands.”
He says he found out the police were looking for him and Mr Wright says it is an agreed fact in the case that he and Miss Brierley handed themselves into police.
Though Mr Bolland says: “We didn’t know Courtney was wanted at that stage, it was just supposed to be me.”
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]15:13[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]“I started the fire but I never meant to harm anyone”[/h]Mr Bolland didn’t answer questions in his police interview, but gave a prepared statement.
In it he says he didn’t set the fire in the wheelie bin and wasn’t responsible for any graffiti.
Asked if that’s true he says no and admits it was a lie and that he was “hiding behind the truth.”
Mr Wright asks why he lied.
Mr Bolland says it was because he had been arrested for something “serious” and he was “scared.”
Asked what the truth is about that night, he says, “I started the fire but I never meant to harm anyone.”
That’s all the questions from Mr Wright.
He will now be cross-examined by John Ryder QC, who is representing David Worrall.
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[FONT="]15:19[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Bolland accused of lying[/h]Mr Bolland, confirms, when asked by Mr Ryder, that the idea to start a fire that night was initially Mr Worrall’s.
Mr Ryder QC, defending Mr Worrall, says to Mr Bolland: “Before you go any further, do you want to revise anything you’ve said? Because you realise your credibility is an issue don’t you?
“I suggest you are not telling the truth.”
Mr Bolland says: “From my recollection that is the truth.”
But Mr Ryder replies: “You are lying to implicate David Worrall and Courtney Brierley in these events and are minimising your own role.”
“No” Mr Bolland replies.
Asked who started the feud with the Pearsons, Mr Bolland says the dispute actually began with “two girls arguing” but says “they set my car on fire first.”
When asked by Mr Ryder he confirms he doesn’t know who set fire to his car.
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[FONT="]15:39[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]“It was all rushed. From the moment it was mentioned to it happening it was rushed”[/h]Mr Ryder says to Mr Bolland that starting a fire in the property was already an idea in his head before any alleged suggestion by Mr Worrall on the night of the blaze at Jackson Street.
He cites petrol being poured on the letterbox at Jackson Street and the bin being set alight on December 9, two days before the fatal fire.
He says to Mr Bolland: “Do you want to think again about who’s idea it was to fire bomb that house?
“You didn’t need anyone to put fire in your head, you are lying about him (Mr Worrall).”
Asked why he set the bin on fire on December 9, Mr Bolland said: “I’m not too sure.”
He adds: “They had set fire to my property and I wanted to do fire back.”
After if he would have done what he did if he knew Michelle and the children were inside, Mr Bolland says “No.”
“Why not?”, Mr Ryder says.
“Because I never in this world would injure someone like that” he replies.
Mr Ryder asks what he did to check then, that no one was home.
“We didn’t do anything to check” Mr Bolland says.
“It was all rushed. From the moment it was mentioned to it happening it was rushed.”
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[FONT="]16:04[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Plan was 'just to set fire to the kitchen then get off'[/h]Asked by Mr Ryder exactly what his plan was that night, Mr Bolland says: “Just to set fire to the kitchen then get off.”
Mr Ryder says Mr Bolland actually told his client, Mr Worrall, they were merely going to set fire the bins again.
“No” Mr Bolland says.
“He knew the bins were round the front and he came with me round the back” he adds.
Mr Ryder says by this stage Mr Worrall was ‘reluctant to be involved with you’ and ‘simply stood there’ as they moved a fence panel to gain access to the back garden and the rear of the house.
He says “you smashed the window, not Mr Worrall.”
“That’s not true” Mr Bolland replies.
Mr Ryder also says he threw both petrol bombs, Mr Bolland again says “that’s not true.”
He does admit however “it was my bottle that caused the explosion.”
Mr Bolland says he “isn’t that close” to David Worrall.
But he says “that’s not true” when Mr Ryder suggests that’s because he is fearful of him.
Mr Ryder accuses Mr Bolland of on one occasion showing Mr Worrall the machete he regularly carried when a friend showed Mr Bolland a video of Mr Worrall ‘wrestling’ with his girlfriend and asked Mr Bolland to ‘sort him out.
“That’s not true” Mr Bolland says.
That’s the end of Mr Ryder’s questions and the court is adjourned until Monday morning.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
Courtney Brierley is charged with the same as Zak Bolland and David Worrall: four counts of murder, three of attempted murder and one charge of arson. I'm not sure what her verdict will be as she didnt leave the car, but as far as I'm concerned she's just as guilty for goading them on, and telling them to put their hoods up and be quick. I really hope those other two get the max - there's no way they didnt know what they were doing, everyone knows about the Philpotts case and how quickly a petrol fire can spread.
Has it been said anywhere how long this trial may go on for?
Courtney Brierley is charged with the same as Zak Bolland and David Worrall: four counts of murder, three of attempted murder and one charge of arson. I'm not sure what her verdict will be as she didnt leave the car, but as far as I'm concerned she's just as guilty for goading them on, and telling them to put their hoods up and be quick. I really hope those other two get the max - there's no way they didnt know what they were doing, everyone knows about the Philpotts case and how quickly a petrol fire can spread.
Has it been said anywhere how long this trial may go on for?
BBM. I'm guessing it should be finished this week. Maybe early next week. Purely based on they're on the defence now.
There's a bit of a question mark over Courtney, but I'm struggling to see anything other than 3 counts of guilty of murder. They knew what they were doing.
This whole "feud" was just so pointless and childish.
[FONT="]10:23KEY EVENT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland is back in court[/h]​The jury is back in court and the trial has resumed.
Andrew Hall QC, representing Courtney Brierley, is now questioning Zak Bolland.​
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[FONT="]10:42JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Bolland says it hadn't crossed his mind that anyone could be hurt[/h]When it was suggested to him he had deliberately planned to set fire to the house and must have realised someone could be killed or badly injured, Mr Bolland told the jury: “I didn’t think anybody was inside.”
He said it had ‘not crossed my mind’ that someone might be killed or hurt.
Mr Bolland agreed that his case was that he told Courtney Brierley and Abigail Toone, when they drove by Jackson Street earlier in the evening and saw a police car, that he thought the family must have been taken into police protection.
Asked why he believed they had taken into police protection, the defendant said: “It’s just something that I suspect that happened.”
The QC reminds the defendant that Abigal Toone had ‘flatly denied’ hearing such a comment and that only left Courtney Brierley to confirm he had said it.
“I believe they would have heard me,” he said.
The defendant added that Abigail Toone ‘may be just a liar’.
When it was suggested that the alternative was that he had never said such a thing, Mr Bolland replied: “That’s not true. Either they didn’t believe me or they are lying.”
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[FONT="]11:06JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]“When you threw those petrol bombs through the window you didn’t hang about, did you?"[/h]Mr Bolland agreed with the QC that normally people including some children would be sleeping at the house on Jackson Street.
“I didn’t know she had so many children but I did know she had some,” said Mr Bolland.
He added: “I didn’t believe Bobby was there or Kyle.”
The defendant agreed that ‘on a normal evening’ it would be possible that people would be sleeping there.
He agreed he did nothing to check whether anyone was in the house but also told the jury he normally slept with the TV and lights on.
“When you threw those petrol bombs through the window you didn’t hang about, did you, to see if anybody got out?” asked the QC and the defendant replied ‘no’.”
Or appeared at the window,” continued the QC.
“No,” said Mr Bolland.
When it was suggested he was ‘completely indifferent to the risk you were putting that family in’, Mr Bolland replied: “I just thought it was an empty property that was going to be damaged... I didn’t there would be anybody in there.”
Mr Bolland denied he had been in a rage that night, telling the jurors: “I wasn’t raging but I was a bit wound up.”
He agreed he was drunk and had taken drugs that night.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]11:12JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland tells court he 'always carries' a machete[/h]Asked to clarify by the judge, Mr Bolland said he had taken ‘quite a lot’ of cocaine that night.
The defendant told the jury: “I was very angry. I was angry, I was a bit furious. I was a bit wound up.”
He agreed he had been affected by drink and drugs that night and that he wasn’t thinking straight.
Asked why he had armed himself with a machete, he said: “I always carry that with me.”
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[FONT="]11:27JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Mr Bolland repeatedly told Courtney Brierley he loved her - and it was him and her 'against the world'[/h]Mr Bolland denied that he had been relying on Courtney Brierley to confirm his story.
Mr Hall suggests to the defendant he had written to his client, Courtney Brierley, five times while they were in custody and that he was ‘very anxious’ she should write back.
One of the letters, Mr Bolland says was sent through an intermediary.
Mr Bolland agreed he had repeatedly told Courtney Brierley he loved her, telling the court:
“At the time I was in love.”
He agreed he told her in these letters he wanted them to marry when they were free and that he wanted her to have his baby.
The defendant had written, the jurors are told, that it was him and her ‘against the world’.
“I thought it was,” said Mr Bolland.
The court heard that Courtney Brierley had not replied.
“I just didn’t think she was allowed,” said Mr Bolland, denying that he thought she was willing to lie for him.
He denied that he had realised she was going to tell the truth.
Mr Bolland said Courtney Brierley had known about the plan that night.
“She willingly drove us to the petrol station and she willingly drove us to Jackson Street knowing what was going to happen,” he told the court.
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[FONT="]11:34JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Court shown picture of Courtney Brierley with a black eye which has been shared on Facebook thousands of times[/h]The QC raises a picture over his head which shows his client Courtney Brierley with a black eye.
The picture had been posted on Facebook and shared thousands of times, Mr Bollland said.
“I had a feeling this was going to be brought up,” he said.
He said the injury happened while they were ‘messing about’ and she had jumped from a roof.
Mr Bolland denied she was had been ‘desperately trying to get out of her locked window’.
He denied he had been violent towards her and pushed her.
When it was suggested that Courtney Brierley did as she was told, Mr Bolland replied: “She normally does the opposite of what she’s told.”
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[FONT="]12:49JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'I didn't want them to be able to put it out'[/h]Paul Reid QC, for the prosecution, is now questioning Mr Bolland.
The defendant, asked whether he intended to set fire to the house, said:
“To set the kitchen on fire, yes.”
Mr Bolland told the jury the plot to start the fire was hatched 20 minutes before it happened.
He said they decided to use the same vodka bottle which he claimed had been to used try to set his own mother’s house on fire.
Asked why they had opted for such an ‘uncontrolled attack’, the defendant said:
“When they attacked onto the front of my mum’s house, I managed to put it out. I didn’t want them to be able to put it out.”
He said he planned to attack the Pearsons’ kitchen.
When it was suggested to him that he knew there was no door between the kitchen and the living room of the house on Jackson Street because he had been at the house before, he said: “I had been there once in the previous year. I was drunk at that point. I didn’t pay attention.”
He continued:
“I aimed it to go in the kitchen. I didn’t aim it to go to the front of the house.”
[FONT="]12:54JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland says he thought petrol would be 'one flash... then it calms down'[/h]Asked why he had not thought the fire would spread so fast, Mr Bolland told the jury: “I don’t know... I didn’t think.”
He added: “I wasn’t really thinking.”
It was put to him that he must have seen petrol bombs going on the TV and asked what he thought was going to happen.
He replied:
“It’s just one flash of petrol and then it calms down.”
“Not if it’s thrown into the house,” said the QC.
Mr Bolland answered:
“I didn’t know that.”
Mr Reid put it to the defendant he had had thrown the petrol bomb into the house with flammable furniture inside to spread the fire and cause ‘destruction’.
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” said Mr Bolland.
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[FONT="]13:17KEY EVENT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'Four children died, and that's it?'[/h]Mr Bolland denied that he knew the fire brigade had put a guard over the letter box of the home on Jackson Street because he had threatened to petrol bomb the property.
He told the jurors:
“I remember arguing with them but I don’t remember threatening them. I may have possibly made it but I can’t say whether I did or I didn’t.”
Mr Bolland repeated that he was intending to get his own back on an attack he claimed had happened at his mother’s house.
“They had done it to me and I did it back and it’s even.
Mr Reid put it to the defendant that the fatal attack was not ‘spur of the moment’, pointing to the trip to get the petrol and then making up of the two petrol bombs at his home in Blackleach Drive.
Mr Bolland told the jurors:
“It was one big spur of the moment. It was go go go. It was rushed from start to finish. Everything was completely rushed”.
When it was suggested he must have been thinking about what was going to happen, he added:
“It didn’t cross my mind. Ican’t remember what I was thinking at the time.”
The QC said:
“However much drink and cocaine you took you knew what you were going to do.”
Mr Bolland replied:
“I knew I was going to start a fire.”
Pressed again, he said:
“I was going to set a fire and that’s it.”
The QC said:
“Four children died and that’s it?”
Mr Bolland answered:
“That’s what happened.”
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[FONT="]13:38JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland tells court 'I couldn't intentionally kill someone'[/h]When it was suggested he knew the domestic arrangements in the house, Mr Bolland said had been more than a month before the attack when he was last inside the property.
The QC put to the defendant that he knew Michelle Pearson had children including three-year-old Lia.
“I didn’t know that. I knew she had Brandon and Lacy,” said the defendant.
Pressed further on whether he really didn’t know a three-year-old lived there, he said:
“I really didn’t know. I really didn’t speak to them.”
The defendant agreed that Kyle Pearson lived there but added: “A lot of teenage lads stay out and stuff.”
He insisted he woudn’t know the sleeping arrangements at the house.
When it was put to him he had been around to the house only four hours before the fatal attack, the defendant said it was so have a fight with Kyle Pearson and his older brother.
He had got ‘a bit wound up’.
The jurors have previously heard that Mr Bolland is alleged to have told Michelle Pearson during the earlier visit:
“Get your son out here, boot the door off. I am going to break his jaw. I am going to do your house.”
Mr Bolland said:
“I can’t remember saying any of that. I remember saying ‘get him out here’ but I don’t remember saying anything else.”
He denied threatening to kill someone and told the jurors:
“I wouldn’t say it because I couldn’t intentionally kill somebody.”
He was reminded that Bobby Harris gave evidence that he heard them saying they would return to kill them although he said he didn’t take the threat seriously at the time.
“I wouldn’t say anything like that either,” said Mr Bolland.
The defendant said there had been ‘arguing back and forth’.
[/FONT] https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/walkden-house-fire-trial-live-14598271
[FONT="]13:52JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]Zak Bolland is asked why they took two bottles: 'Now I think about it, it would cause more damage'[/h]Mr Bolland told the court they made two bottles so that his co-defendant David Worrall could have one too and he insisted the intention wasn’t to cause more damage.
He said:
“Now I think about it, it would cause more damage but I didn’t think of it that way.”
Asked about how the bottles were prepared, Mr Bolland said:
“I have done the first one. We have all done the first one up... then we’ve decided to get another bottle so we will do two.”
He agreed with the suggestion that the first bottle ‘didn’t do very much’ when it was thrown.
The jurors have seen CCTV which shows a smaller flash of light and then a much larger flash moments later coming from the rear garden of the home on Jackson Street.
“I didn’t think it had done any damage what-so-ever,” said Mr Bolland, referring to the first bottle.
He said he had not been paying attention and had not seen any flash from it.
He said he thought the tissue in neck of the bottle had gone out.
The defendant agreed David Worrall’s bottle had not gone very far but his went the full length of the house.
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[FONT="]14:03JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'I didn't know it was ablaze. I just ran off'[/h]Mr Bolland insisted he had not aimed the bottle.
When it was put to him he had thrown it so hard it could reach the front of the house, he said:
“I didn’t intend to throw it hard. I just threw it. I thought it was going to smash in the kitchen.”
The QC said that ‘within a short time the house was ablaze’.
Mr Bolland said:
“I didn’t know it was ablaze. I just ran off.”
The prosecutor put it to the defendant it was obvious that anyone inside the house would have been lucky to survive.
The defendant said:
“If there’s people inside, yes, they would have been lucky to survive.”
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[FONT="]14:07JOHN SCHEERHOUT[/FONT] [FONT="][h=3]'I didn't want to get done for arson'[/h]Mr Bolland denied Mr Reid’s suggestion that he heard children crying and had ‘terrorised’ the Pearson during an attack two weeks earlier.
“You just don’t care do you? asked the prosecutor.
Mr Bolland replied:
“I wasn’t thinking.”
The defendant denied a suggestion that his claim that he thought the family had been taken in police protection was ‘nonsense’.
“It’s the truth,” he said.
He agreed he had tried to hide evidence like the axe and pair of gloves in a shed.
He said:
“I didn’t want to get done for arson.”
He denied he was guilty of murder.
Asked by the judge, Mr Justice William Davis, what kind of luck he thought people would need to survive such a fire, he defendant replied: “I don’t know.”
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