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Mick Philpott jailed for life over Derby house fire that killed six children Mick Philpott jailed for life over Derby house fire that left six children dead
(35 minutes later)
Mick Philpott has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years for starting a fire that tore through his Derby home, killing six children and triggering widespread public revulsion. Mick Philpott has been jailed for life for being the "driving force" behind a plot to torch a Derby home that killed six children, with a judge branding him a "disturbingly dangerous man" with "no moral compass".
He was told by Mrs Justice Thirwall he was the "driving force behind this shockingly dangerous enterprise". Mrs Justice Thirlwall said Philpott should serve a minimum of 15 years after a jury at Nottingham crown court convicted him of six counts of manslaughter for plotting the fire, which he and two others started in May 2012.
The judge said Philpott used his conviction for attempting to murder a girlfriend in 1978 to terrify other women, adding: "You have repeatedly used that conviction as a means of controlling other women, terrified as to what you would do to them." Philpott's wife, Mairead, and friend Paul Mosley were both sentenced to 17 years for helping the plot. They will not be eligible for release until they have served at least half their sentences.
She said the plot to set fire to the house and rescue the children was "a wicked and dangerous plan", adding it was "outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person". The judge said the plot to set fire to the house and rescue the children was "a wicked and dangerous plan", adding it was "outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person".
His wife and co-conspirator Mairead Philpott and their friend Paul Mosley were both sentenced to 17 years for helping the plot. They will not be eligible for release until they have served at least half their sentences. The judge said Mr Philpott, a father of 17 children, aimed to frame a partner who had dared to leave him, and the court heard of his long history of violence and control of women, whom he regarded as his "chattels".
Even the families of the couple had welcomed the guilty verdicts when they were returned by the jury at Nottingham crown court on Tuesday after a trial which heard about their complicated private lives and Mr Philpott's history of violence against his partners. The judge said Mr Philpott used his conviction for attempting to murder a girlfriend in 1978 to terrify other women, adding: "You have repeatedly used that conviction as a means of controlling other women, terrifying them as to what you might do to them if they did not follow your will."
He devised the twisted plot in an attempt to frame a former lover, Lisa Willis, who had left him and so he could act the hero and rescue his children. The case, which the judge said was "unique", has angered the public. As the trio were sentenced their were shouts from the public gallery of: "Die, Mick, die."
But the fire which broke out in May last year was fiercer than Mr Philpott expected. Six out of 11 children sleeping in the council house in Victory Road, Derby, died. In her sentencing remarks Thirlwall said Mr Philpott had been living with his wife and another woman, Lisa Willis, at the council house in Derby.
He even exploited public sympathy after the fire to try to benefit from money donated for the funerals of the children, Jayden, five, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and 13-year-old Duwayne. Willis took her children and left Mr Philpott, who became obsessed by her. The judge said: "You could not stand the fact that she had crossed you. You were determined to make sure that she came back and you began to put together your plan."
The jury was not told Mr Philpott had a previous conviction for attempting to murder a woman who wanted to leave him, whom he stabbed a dozen times. The judge then detailed Mr Philpott's history of violence against women, starting with his attempted murder of a partner who left him, whom he stabbed 13 times. On his release from prison Mr Philpott continued to abuse, control and beat women.
Mr Philpott, aged 21 at the time of the attack, was convicted of the attempted murder of Kim Hill and of grievous bodily harm to her mother in December 1978. He was sentenced to seven years, with the judge warning that he was a dangerous man. Mr Philpott beat his first wife, with whom he had three children, before leaving her in his 40s for a 16-year-old whom he controlled "through physical and sexual violence, threats and emotional abuse".
Such was Mr Philpott's hold on women that after the fire that killed his children he got his wife to perform a sex act on the third co-conspirator, Mosley, which the crown said was carried out to keep him on side as part of the plot. Mr Philpott had children with five partners, claiming welfare benefits for himself and forcing women in his life to hand over money to him. The judge added: "She, like the two women before her, speaks of the lifelong damage she has suffered as a result of her relationship with you."
The jury convicted Mr Philpott, 56, and Mosley, 46, unanimously. Mrs Philpott, 32, was convicted by majority verdict. Mr Philpott then met and married Mairead, who was from a troubled background and viewed him as her "guardian angel". She not only allowed Philpott to have a relationship with Willis, but allowed her to live in the house.
All three were convicted of manslaughter, not murder, meaning prosecutors accept they did not intend for anyone to be killed. The judge said: "You controlled and manipulated those women as you had controlled and manipulated their predecessors. They ran the household and looked after all the children. They went out to work. Their wages and their benefits went into your account, you controlled how money was spent … These two young women were not even permitted to have a front door key.
"I accept that the level of physical violence had reduced in recent years, but the level of control, aggression and fear most certainly did not. Women were your chattels, there to look after you and your children (for that is how you describe them all). You bark orders and they obey. Witness after witness described the dynamics in your household. You were kingpin, no one else mattered."
The judge said Mr Philpott hatched a plot to frame Willis for an arson attack on the family home on the eve of a child custody hearing: "It was a wicked and dangerous plan. And you put it into effect with the assistance of your two co-defendants. You poured petrol on the floor. Paul Mosley was responsible for removing the containers from your home. You set light to it. After a short while Mairead Philpott spoke to the emergency services. It became clear that there was no chance of a successful rescue and the children perished.
"Mercifully their deaths were swift and, it would seem, without pain."
The children were Jayden, five, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and 13-year-old Duwayne.
The jury on Tuesday convicted Mr Philpott, 56, and Mosley, 46, unanimously. Mrs Philpott, 32, was convicted by majority verdict.
The judge accepted that Mr Philpott did not mean serious harm to come to any of the 11 children who were in the house, but added: "What you did intend, plainly, was to subject your children to a terrifying ordeal. They were to be woken from their beds in the middle of the night with their home on fire so you could rescue them and be the hero. Their terror was the price they were going to pay for your callous selfishness."
The judge described how firefighters and neighbours tried to rescue the children as flames tore through the home, and chastised Mr Philpott for his lies after the blaze: "Ever since the fire your life has been a performance for the public and the police, and then in this court. Your conduct has been punctuated by collapses and shows of distress designed to evoke sympathy where none is merited, designed to manipulate emotion.
"I accept you have lost six children. I very much regret that everything about you suggests that your grief has very often been simulated for the public gaze."
Mr Philpott ensured his wife and Mosley stuck to their stories, and the judge said the wife too would have been expendable for Mr Philpott.
Sending Mr Philpott to prison for life, Thirlwall said: "You are a disturbingly dangerous man. Your guiding principle is what Mick Philpott wants he gets. You have no moral compass. I have no hesitation in concluding that these six offences are so serious and the danger you pose is so great that the only proper sentence is one of life imprisonment and that is the sentence I impose upon you."
Mrs Philpott cried at times during the sentencing, as the judge told her she had put her husband ahead of her children, whom she had now lost: "I accept that he treated you as a skivvy or a slave, and you were prepared to put up with that. As became clear during the trial you were prepared to go to any lengths, however humiliating, to keep him happy."
But the judge said Mrs Philpott had on occasion defied her husband's demands, and ultimately failed her children: "You put Michael Philpott above your children and as a result they have died.
"After the fire you threw your lot in with Michael Philpott. You supported him in his quest to get residence of the other children. You complied with his sexual demands to keep Paul Mosley onside" – a reference to a sex act she performed on him.
Barristers for the Philpotts told a sentencing hearing on Wednesday that they had been good parents and in spite of their complex private lives their children had been doing well.Barristers for the Philpotts told a sentencing hearing on Wednesday that they had been good parents and in spite of their complex private lives their children had been doing well.
It was revealed that Mr Philpott had been on bail at the time of the fire after a violent road rage attack. He had punched a driver after forcing him to stop because he believed he had pulled out in front of him at a roundabout. He admitted common assault but was awaiting trial on a charge of dangerous driving.It was revealed that Mr Philpott had been on bail at the time of the fire after a violent road rage attack. He had punched a driver after forcing him to stop because he believed he had pulled out in front of him at a roundabout. He admitted common assault but was awaiting trial on a charge of dangerous driving.
Mrs Philpott's barrister said she faced risks in prison because she had been convicted of killing children. Shaun Smith QC gave mitigating factors in the hearing as he tried to persuade the judge to pass a lower sentence.Mrs Philpott's barrister said she faced risks in prison because she had been convicted of killing children. Shaun Smith QC gave mitigating factors in the hearing as he tried to persuade the judge to pass a lower sentence.
"She will be forever known as a child killer," Smith said."She will be forever known as a child killer," Smith said.
He said her real sentence would be the loss of her children and that she had been dominated by her husband during their 12-year relationship.He said her real sentence would be the loss of her children and that she had been dominated by her husband during their 12-year relationship.
Smith told the judge there was "only one dominant person in that relationship". He added: "She would do whatever he said, whatever he wanted," and described her attempts to keep her husband's affections as "utter folly".
He said the children led happy lives despite living for a time with their mother, father and their father's girlfriend. Smith told the judge: "The entirety of the evidence in this case is that Mairead Philpott was an extremely good mother to all 11 children. No one, we respectfully submit, can dispute the grief that she feels."
The hearing heard that Mr Philpott had meted out violence in all his relationships. At one point the judge asked: "There's been violence in every single relationship, has there not?"
The crown outlined Mr Philpott's past offences, which Thirlwall said she would take into account in deciding sentencing.
After the 1978 attack Hill had to be revived twice and the court on Wednesday heard that she still suffered from its effects.
Before the murder attempt Mr Philpott had attacked her, breaking her fingers, and when Hill then wanted to leave him, he became so enraged he decided to kill her so no other man could have her. In mitigation, his barrister, Anthony Orchard QC, said the conviction for attempted murder was a long time ago and there was no evidence of anything like the offence since.
The court was told that in 1991 Mr Philpott headbutted someone while working and was given a conditional discharge for actual bodily harm. He was cautioned in 2010 for attacking his wife after slapping her in the face and dragging her out of the house.
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