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Fire murder trial hears harrowing account of deaths

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One of four children killed in a house fire in Greater Manchester was found on a bunk bed with her hands outstretched towards an open window, a murder trial has heard.

It was apparent that 15-year-old Demi Pearson was already dead but firefighter Janine Chadwick said she and her colleagues had to get her out of the burning property in Walkden.

"We had to give her that chance," Ms Chadwick told Manchester Crown Court.

"We knew it was a bad fire as we arrived," she said, adding that there "seemed to be a lot of commotion".

Demi, 15, her brother Brandon, eight, and sisters Lacie and Lia, aged seven and three, died in the blaze, which was allegedly started by petrol bombs.

Image:Demi Pearson, 15, was the oldest of the children

Firefighters had to "battle against the heat to enter the building", Ms Chadwick told the court.

Rescuers had to crawl up the stairs, dragging hoses on their hands and knees after walls crumbled in the heat and the steps became a rubble-strewn "slide", she said.

After reaching the top they split up and Ms Chadwick entered the front bedroom, where she began to find children "immediately".

Brandon was found face down, as if trying to crawl out, the jury was told. Ms Chadwick picked him up and passed him to a colleague.

Sister Lacie, seven, directly behind Brandon, was passed to another firefighter.

Lia Pearson died in hospital
Image:Lia Pearson died in hospital two days after the blaze

Youngest sibling Lia was discovered in a back bedroom alongside her mother, 35-year-old Michelle Pearson.

Out in the road, a team of 15 paramedics worked to save the pair.

Lia died in hospital two days later, and Ms Pearson, who was left in a coma after the blaze, wastold only recently of the children's deaths.

Brandon and Lacie Pearson died at the scene of the fire
Image:Brandon and Lacie Pearson died at the scene

Earlier, Lacie had been to the house of neighbour Elaine Williams, asking to borrow a pencil to do her school homework.

Ms Williams, who saw paramedics after rushing out into the street in her dressing gown, told the court she thought "nobody was coming out of there alive".

Ms Pearson's son Kyle, 16, and his friend Bobby Harris did manage to escape.

Michelle Pearson is in a serious condition in hospital
Image:Michelle Pearson was in a coma following the fire

The court has been told that two men, Zak Bolland, 23, and David Worrall, 25, removed a fence panel from the garden of the Pearsons' home, smashed a kitchen window and tossed in two lit petrol bombs at 5am on 11 December.

Bolland's girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, 20, is also on trial.

A "petty" feud with Kyle Pearson about £500 damage to a car is said to have led to the blaze.

Bolland, Worrall and Brierley deny four counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder relating to Michelle Pearson, Kyle Pearson and Bobby Harris.

More from Greater Manchester

Bolland has admitted reckless arson, a charge the other two deny.

The trial has been adjourned until next week.

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