WALKDEN SOUTH COUNCILLOR SPEAKS FOR THE CITY AS SHE SLAMS CORONATION STREETS 'INSENSITIVE' ARSON STORY-LINE

There are few people within Salford who are unaware of the devastating arson attack carried out upon an innocent families home in Walkden which left four children dead and their mother Michelle Pearson in a coma - only later to tragically succumb to her horrific injuries the following year after putting up a determined fight to see justice for her beloved children.

Those responsible were quite rightly locked away for the brutal, barbaric murders which enraged a city, with some calling it the single worst act of premeditated evil to ever be carried on Salford soil. So heinous were their crimes this publication refuses to give mention to their names.

So it came as a complete shock to viewers tuned into ITVs popular soap opera 'Corrie' when they saw similar scenes unfolding on screen before their very eyes. The story line was eerily similar to the real life events which left utter devastation in their wake, the outcome may have turned out different but for a city still stinging from the heartbreak of those dark events, it was an unwelcome reminder of a tragedy that is still painful to think about.

Within moments of the scenes being aired, people headed to social media to vent their anger, at one point we had to place a restriction on commenting on it on our group as we were inundated with angry Salfordians outraged at what they had seen. We did so for the simple reason of protecting the Pearsons wider family from having to endure reliving the heart breaking and still very raw memories which tore their lives apart.

In a statement ITV says it has never shied from tackling difficult issues but viewers have scolded the companies decision to run with the story line, calling it crass, disrespectful and tasteless. Many went on to report the episode to regulator Ofcom as the scenes were aired before the watershed.

Never one to fail to speak her mind in defence of her constituents, Salfords youngest elected Councillor for Walkden South - Laura Edwards - spoke to Greater Manchester Radios Phil Trow on Thursday (24th Jan) in which she spoke of her disappointment at how a show so intrinsically linked to Salford chose to broadcast an insensitive story-line which has left a still grieving family upset and angered. 

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"They are really not happy (The family), most of them don't watch the show but a member of the family did and was left absolutely devastated as you can imagine. 

"I think it is just completely insensitive and they could have quite easily have gotten in touch with the family before running with a story-line like that and spoke to them beforehand.

"But for to be aired live without any warning it is disappointing."

 

She went on to say how the story-line resonated with people within the local community and taking into account the huge response on our own 27K+ facebook group 'SalfordOnline' we can not echo that enough. So angered were the people of Salford we had to spend most of the evening and much of the following morning refusing posts.

In the long history of the SalfordOnline group we have only ever witnessed a handful of occasions in which there has been a similar response of shear outrage and anger.

Laura noted that it was made worse as Coronation Street was envisioned by a man who lived just up the road from Walkden in neighbouring Pendlebury, sounding audibly upset, she said:

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"It is really part of our community so for that to happen it is disappointing.

"It was not just an arson story-line, it really did resonate with people from my community."

 

She also gave praise to the way the soap had handled other story-lines in the past, such as the grooming scandal, the male rape story-line but this in the eyes of many was a step too far. To dramatise such a similar real life tragedy which led to the deaths of innocent people for entertainment is clearly insensitive.

Laura said that she felt like the soaps show-runners didn't understand how much it would hurt people in the community:

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"When covering the male rape and grooming stories coronation street staff spoke to survivors and people who were involved, but in this case they had no consultation at all with the family.

"This was an arson attack, it's not very common and if it was it would be on the news all the time."

Going on to say:

"It has been handled really badly and it could have been avoided."

 

The Pearsons are forever in the hearts and thoughts of the people of this City and to see them treated with such insensitivity is nothing more than disgusting in our opinion, as Laura says, they are owed a humbling apology from ITV bosses.

The events that unfolded on that fateful night shocked a City - a City in which the fictional township of Weatherfield featured in the show is based upon.

Those tragic events are ingrained into the fabric of Salfords collective memory and those memories still remain as raw to this day as the night we learned what had happened.