Mother accused of killing her six children in house fire 'fell pregnant by another man after going dogging then had an abortion'
- Mick Philpott alleged to have started the blaze with two others
- Appeared on Jeremy Kyle in 2006, which led to death threats and 'bullying'
- Told court he regretted going on show, saying it was 'bad' for his family
- 'They (people) called them (his children) brats, scum of the earth,' he said
- Philpott admits he 'hit' his wife and then lover because they struck his child
- He also told the court today that he did not do it, but may know who did
- Court heard his wife had an abortion after falling pregnant while dogging
- He is accused of manslaughter with wife Mairead and friend Paul Mosley
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Drama: Mick Philpott (sketched left) in the witness box at Nottingham Crown Court, where he collapsed during a day of evidence about the events leading to the fire at his home
A mother accused of killing her six children in a house fire had an abortion after becoming pregnant by another man while dogging, a court heard today.
Mick Philpott told the jury he and his wife went dogging - having sex with strangers while others watch - on occasion in nearby Allestree.
She had become pregnant by another man after one such encounter, and ended up having an abortion.
Father-of-17 Philpott, accused of killing six of his children in a house fire, also told his trial today he had beaten his wife and girlfriend, before later collapsing in the dock describing how he tried to 'get to my babies' caught in the blaze.
He admitted to the jury: 'I've made some mistakes. I have not been the best husband,' telling how he lashed out at wife Mairead and lover Lisa Willis because they 'hit my daughter'.
Giving evidence about the events leading to the fatal blaze in May last year, the 56-year-old also sobbed as he described how his family received death threats and were bullied at school after an appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show.
He went on the ITV1 programme with his wife and lover in 2006, who were both pregnant at the time, to beg for a bigger council house, but told the court he now regretted doing it.
Prosecutors say he conspired to start the blaze with his 31-year-old wife Mairead and a third defendant Paul Mosley, 46, who are all on trial accused of the manslaughter of the six siblings.
Taking the witness box at the start of his defence case at Nottingham Crown Court, Philpott said he had nothing to do with it, but had an idea about who did.
Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, died in the house. Their brother Duwayne, 13, was taken to Derby Royal Hospital and transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital but died three days later.
The 56-year-old has always denied any involvement in the fire at his home in Victory Road, Allenton, Derby, in the early hours of May 11 last year.
During the trial, which started last month, jurors heard that Philpott shared the family home with his wife and their six children, all of whom died in the fire, and also with his live-in mistress, Lisa Willis.
Philpott today described how he hit Lisa 'once' after she disciplined one of his children, adding: 'she hurt my princess Jade,' - one of the children who died in the fire.
He said he had hit Mairead 'because she also hit my daughter', also admitting he has 'got a big gob'.
Emotional: As a 999 call from his house was played to the court, Philpott put his head in his hands and sobbed uncontrollably
Drama: The 56-year-old then collapsed, sobbing loudly, as people in the public gallery also cried during evidence played to the jury
Regrets: Mick Philpott on the Jeremy Kyle Show in 2009, where he admitted his wife and girlfriend were pregnant so he needed a new larger council house
Philpott earlier told the court he regretted appearing on TV’s Jeremy Kyle Show with his family, where he said he needed a bigger council house for his huge family.
Anthony Orchard QC asked him: 'Why did you decide to do it?'
Philpott replied: 'We all decided. At that time we needed a bigger house because the family was getting rather big'.
The court heard that the children were bullied following their appearance on the programme.
'They (people) called them brats, scum of the earth,' Philpott said.
He told the court that he and his children received death threats following the family’s TV appearance.
Mr Orchard asked: 'Was it a good time for the family?', 'No,' Philpott replied.
This afternoon the jury heard the 999 call made by him and his wife as the blaze took hold.
Philpott doubled over, wept loudly and then collapsed onto the floor as the recording told how he tried to smash a window to get back into the home and heard no noise from the children.
'I was hysterical. I wanted to hear them but I couldn't. I just wanted to get my babies'.
Holding a tissue up to his face and his voice cracking with emotion, Philpott told jurors: 'I wanted to get to them but I couldn’t.'
In the dock: Mick Philpott, shown crying at a press conference with wife Mairead, started giving evidence today
Trial: Mick Philpott stands in the dock today as defence barrister Anthony Orchard QC asks questions while his wife Mairead wipes her eyes alongside the other defendant Paul Mosley
Philpott told the court this afternoon that the day before the fire had gone as normal, with him taking and picking the children up from school, but admitted he and the two other suspects in the case ended up having a threesome.
Paul Mosley had gone round to the couple’s home at 7.30pm on May and then Mick and Mairead left the house with a friend to get cannabis for him.
Philpott told the court that no one smoked the cannabis when they returned and that he gave it to Mosley.
Regret: Philpott cried as he described his wife Mairead as a great mother
The court heard he and Mosley played pool before Mairead and the pair had sex on the table.
'How do you feel about that now?' Mr Orchard QC asked him.
'Ashamed,' Philpott replied “How do you feel admitting it?' Mr Orchard continued.
'The same,' Philpott replied.
He told the court Mosley left the house at 12.45am on May 11.
Philpott said he and his wife were sleeping naked in the conservatory when they were woken hours later by the sound of the fire alarm going off in the house.
Asked why he did not mention the sex act between the three of them on the night of the fire, to police in interview, he said: 'I think we are totally, totally ashamed of what we’ve done.
'It’s totally irrelevant to what’s happened to the children, it’s degrading.'
He also said that in the aftermath of the fire the three of them had another three or four sexual encounters together.
He admitted that when strangers meet him, they were often 'enemies, until people get to know me'.
'I tend to come across too strong, too powerful,' he added.
'I live my life the way I want to. I did make quite a lot of enemies. You either love me or hate me.'
He was asked about claims that the fire was set last year because the family wanted a bigger house.
Philpott told the court: 'The house was quite sufficient.'
Anthony Orchard QC, defending Philpott, asked him: 'Did you set the fire?'
'No,' Philpott replied, adding he had nothing to do with preparing it but had 'suspicions' about who did it.
Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and purple tie and standing in the witness box in front of a packed public gallery, the 56-year-old wiped away tears as he answered questions and used the dock to hold himself up.
He also sobbed briefly after describing his wife, Mairead, as 'the best' mum and the 'carer' of the children she is accused of killing.
Philpott, his 31-year-old wife Mairead and a third defendant Paul Mosley, 46, are all on trial accused of killing the six siblings.
Lisa Willis, 29, lived in the property with her five children, four of whom were fathered by Philpott, until finally walking out with the youngsters in February last year.
During their trial at Nottingham Crown Court prosecutors alleged that the fatal blaze was part of a plan hatched by the defendants to frame Lisa Willis.
Miss Willis, 29, shared the house in Victory Road, Derby with Philpott and his wife, along with the married couple's six children.
Miss Willis left the house and her relationship with Philpott in February last year and took her five children with her, four of which were fathered by unemployed Philpott.
Accused: Mick Philpott, pictured with Mairead Philpott and another woman, spoke about his relationship with girlfriend Lisa Willis in court today
Philpott told the court he had no clue beforehand that Miss Willis was going to leave.
Asked about their relationship, he said: 'At that particular time I thought that me and Lisa had this bond that was inseparable.'
He had discussed it with his wife because she was 'concerned' about it, he said.
Mr Orchard asked him: 'How were you treating Lisa?'
Philpott replied: 'I treated her like a queen.'
He told the court that he was spending a lot of time with his wife and slept in the evenings with Miss Willis.
Mr Orchard asked him about openly discussing his desire to divorce his wife and marry Miss Willis.
'What was Mairead’s reaction to that?' Mr Orchard asked. 'She had no reaction, that was the problem,' Philpott replied.
'Mairead, was she going to leave?'
'No, Mairead was not leaving. She was not going anywhere,' Philpott said.
'Mairead will always be my wife, even if we got divorced.'
The court heard that Philpott has asked his wife for a divorce three or four times over a period of years.
Tragic: Six children, aged between five and 13, died in the blaze at the house in Allenton, Derby, last May
The court heard that on the same day as the fire engulfed the house on May 11 last year, Philpott and Miss Willis were due in court to discuss custody of their children.
Philpott told the court that he and his wife regularly discussed with Miss Willis what would happen should there be a split.
'We always said that if we ever split up we would never stop each other from seeing the children,” he told the jury.
Miss Willis left the Philpott home in February, taking her five children with her.
Asked about the effect of this on his and Mairead’s six children, Philpott said they were 'distraught'.
'They were so upset, so distraught. It was horrible,' Philpott said.
Deadly blaze: Philpott surrounded by the six children whose lives were claimed by the fatal house fire
He told the court that he had taken some tablets with brandy after Miss Willis left.
'Was this a suicide attempt?', Mr Orchard asked him.
'No, it was self-pity,' Philpott replied.
Six siblings died as a result of the fire. Jade, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, died during the blaze. Their brother Duwayne, 13, was taken to Derby Royal Hospital and transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital but died three days later.
Philpott also said he was an occasional user of cannabis and had smoked after the deaths of the children.
He told the court: 'I was finding it very difficult to cope with what was going on. Having sex or smoking cannabis was one way of blocking it out.'
Jurors heard that Philpott told police he and his wife had nothing to do with the fire.
After his arrest he told police: 'I just can't believe this is happening. I don't think you understand what it is like losing six children.'
When asked whether he was responsible for the blaze, Philpott replied: 'Watch these eyes: categorically no. Nor was my wife.'
Philpott told the court he thought the fire had been started by someone else as a way to get at him.
'I thought somebody wanted to kill me,' he said.
'Why would someone want to do that?' Mr Orchard asked.
Philpott answered: 'Because of the kind of person I am.'
Philpott, his wife and Mosley all deny six counts of manslaughter.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292561/Father-17-accused-killing-children-house-evidence-manslaughter-trial.html#ixzz2NRaz11Ew
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