Mick Philpotts

[Padgates staff]

Allenton house fireThe Allenton house fire occurred on 11 May 2012 in Victory Road, a residential street in Allenton, Derby, England. Five children died in the fire, and one later died in hospital. The parents of the children were later arrested and charged with manslaughter.



Dad Mick Philpott with his six children who died in the blaze: Jade, John, Jack, Jessie, Jayden and Duwayne
 

The children were asleep upstairs in the house when the fire began, with their parents downstairs. Their father, Mick Philpott, was reported to have made "valiant" attempts to save them. Jade Philpott (10), John Philpott (9), Jack Philpott (7), Jessie Philpott (6) and Jayden Philpott (5) were all killed in the fire, post-mortem tests revealed the children died of smoke inhalation. Their brother, Duwayne Philpott (13) died in hospital three days later. Two adults suffered minor injuries in the fire, but have not been formally identified.
Police confirmed that the fire was started deliberately, with petrol underneath the letterbox, in an act of arson, stating that "Initial indications are that it was deliberately set and as a result six children have been unlawfully killed."[
A church service was held in memory of the children at the Roman Catholic church of St George's in Littleover. A charity, Catch Me When I Fall, was set up by local residents to help the family of the children. A book of condolence at Derby Cathedral was later signed by hundreds of people.

A 38-year old man and a 28-year old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder, but were later released without charge following questioning. Following the release of the pair Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cotterill said that "While I thank those members of the community who have come forward with information I am surprised by how few people have contacted us. Normally in cases of this scale more information is passed to the police...I strongly suspect that there is someone out there in the community who knows more than we are being told."
The parents of the children, Mick and Mairead Philpott, were arrested on suspicion of murder on 29 May and charged with their murders the following day.
On 5 November 2012 a 49-year-old man and a 45-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of murder. Later that day, the 45-year-old man, Paul Mosley, was charged with murder. The other man was released without charge. Mosley appeared in court the following day. In December 2012 their charges were downgraded to manslaughter.

The trial properly started on 12 February 2013 at Nottingham Crown Court with Dame Justice Thirlwall as the presiding judge. Richard Latham QC leads the prosecution on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service. Anthony Orchard QC leads the defence for Mick Philpott, Sean Smith QC leads the defence for Mairead Philpott, and Benjamin Nolan QC leads the defence for Mosley.

Mick Philpott was heavily criticised in the media in 2006 when he requested a larger council house to house his family, which then consisted of his wife Mairead Philpott, then aged 25, his mistress Lisa Willis, then 22, and four children born to Mrs. Philpott, three to Lisa Willis, and a fourth child born to Lisa Willis by a different father.
After Lisa Willis gave birth to her fourth child by Philpott in 2006, the press revealed that both she and Mairead Philpott were expecting babies in March 2007. Following their birth, Philpott appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show in 2007 to defend his lifestyle, saying that he would like to marry one woman and divorce the other, to be fair, and added that he would have a vasectomy. He has had no further children.
The family appeared on the 2007 documentary Ann Widdecombe Versus the Benefits Culture, in which Ann Widdecombe lived with him for a week and tried to get him to change his lifestyle. Widdecombe got Philpott a job in a barrel-making firm but he did not turn up for work on the first day and the job fell through.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allenton_house_fire

[Padgates staff]

Nation shares the grief of controversial dad who once revelled in publicity
WITH 18 children to his name and his demands for a bigger council house to fit his growing family in, Mick Philpott is a man who has felt the strength of public opinion.
After complaining that his Derby home was too small he exploded into the national spotlight, prompting waves of backlash from outraged taxpayers.
But yesterday, Mr Philpott was simply a father in unutterable grief, a dad trying to deal with a terrible truth no parent should ever have to face – that five of his young children had died in a devastating fire.
Even the most ardent of his critics would have felt the sheer horror of such a loss of young life. Even the most vocal of his detractors would have been stunned by such tragedy.
And no one could have been left unmoved after hearing of Mr Philpott's desperate, valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to save his young children from the blaze which engulfed his Victory Road home in the early hours of yesterday.
Throughout the day, news reports showed the blackened front of the house – the same house which Mr Philpott first complained about five years ago.
The Derby Telegraph originally interviewed Mr Philpott in 2006. At the time, he was living in the Allenton home with his wife, mistress and eight children and claiming more than £500 in benefits a week.
But he told the paper that the house was too small, that it was too cramped for his family. Derby City Council, which owned the house, had said it was unable to help Mr Philpott and he responded by saying the country was "going down the pan".
He said at the time he was frustrated that the council had failed to find him a house. "They always come up with the same excuses," he said. "They're just not good enough. I love my country but at the moment I feel ashamed of it. I think the country is going down the pan."
It was a story which was quickly followed up by the national press. Across the UK Mr Philpott was criticised for the size of his family and his reliance on state support.
The Daily Star and the Express ran the story on their front pages while the Sun, Times, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror all carried reports on the family. TV programmes such as the Jeremy Kyle Show and This Morning were both keen to speak to him, leading to appearances on both, and critics wrote their views about Mr Philpott on newspaper comment pages.
But through it all he had his defenders. His mother, Peggy Philpott, said: "He's a very good father. The kids want for nothing. The council's been unfair. They should have been housed by now."
And Mr Philpott himself said he was unfazed by the reaction to his comments.
He told the Derby Telegraph weeks later: "I'm on cloud nine at the moment. I love criticism. People are just jealous of my living arrangements, that's all.
"I can understand what pop stars have to put up with now. My phone hasn't stopped ringing with people wanting comments off me."
It was Mr Philpott's unemployment which drew a large deal of the public criticism.
It was this which led to staunch Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe getting in touch with the father-of-18 to see if he wanted to take part in a documentary called Ann Widdecombe Versus The Benefits Culture.
For the programme, Miss Widdecombe spent a week with Mr Philpott, following him as he lived his life.
During the filming, the fiery MP helped Mr Philpott find three potential jobs, resulting in an offer of employment with Burton-based barrel maker Cammac Brewery Support Services.
The company later withdrew the offer after Mr Philpott failed to turn up.
After the show was completed, Miss Widdecombe remained unimpressed with Mr Philpott's lifestyle.
She said: "My solution remains workfare: if you want benefits, you have to earn them."
But yesterday, after hearing the news of the fire which claimed the lives of Mr Philpott's five children, Miss Widdecombe said she was deeply saddened by the tragedy.
She said: "I am very sorry to hear what has happened and my thoughts are with Mr Philpott and his family."
In September 2007, after first making the promise on The Jeremy Kyle Show, Mr Philpott claimed he had had a vasectomy. Since then, he has lived a relatively quiet life, rarely appearing in the pages of the press.
But whatever preconceptions and ideas the public may have had about Mr Philpott, there is simply no denying the scale of the grief which has engulfed his life.
And it can only be hoped that the same vocal reaction which has formed such a powerful background to his life in recent years will now support him in dealing with this enormous tragedy.

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Nation-shares-grief-controversial-dad-revelled/story-16062470-detail/story.html#axzz2LA0dUV7J

[Padgates staff]

Father of 15 who moaned about council house to be a dad again - twice



Mick Philpott, of Derby, claimed Britain was 'going down the pan', now Wife Mairead and girlfriend Lisa Willis are both expecting.


The wife and girlfriend of an unemployed father of 15 who sparked a national outcry when he complained about the size of his council house are both pregnant, it was reported today.
Mick Philpott, of Derby, claimed Britain was "going down the pan" after his local council said it could not provide him with a bigger home for his huge clan.
Now it has emerged that the 49-year-old is about to become a father to children numbers 16 and 17.
Wife Mairead and girlfriend Lisa Willis are both expecting, he told the Derby Evening Telegraph.
It reports he vowed to have a vasectomy, saying that he was "annoyed with himself".
"It's just one of those things that they've both fallen pregnant," he said.
Mr Philpott refused to comment on the report at his Victory Road home today.
He lives at the property with his 25-year-old wife, who is the mother of their five children, aged one to seven.
Sharing their home is his 22-year-old girlfriend and their three young children.
Miss Willis also has another child, aged six, from a previous relationship, who lives at the house.
And Mr Philpott is father to another seven offspring from three previous relationships.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-416624/Father-15-moaned-council-house-dad--u-twice-u.html