Mick Philpott sentenced to LIFE and his wife Mairead gets 17 years for house-fire plot which killed six of their children
- Judge: Philpott, 56, a 'disturbingly dangerous man with no moral compass'
- Wife Mairead, 32, given 17 years in jail for her part in botched arson plot
- Co-conspirator Paul Mosley, 46, also handed 17-year prison sentence
- Philpott 'driving force behind this shockingly dangerous enterprise'
- Judge says he used attempted murder conviction to terrify other women
- Family members applaud terms, with one shouting: 'Die, Mick, die'
- Philpott smiles and makes obscene hand gestures as he is led away
- They plotted to frame lover Lisa Willis for fire which killed six children
- Philpott raked in equivalent of £100k in benefits and wages from women
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Jobless father-of-17 Mick Philpott was sentenced to life in prison today for starting the fire which killed six of his children in an appalling plot to frame his former lover.
His wife, Mairead, who conspired with him, was handed 17 years and told to serve at least half in jail.
The judge Mrs Justice Thirlwell told Philpott he had 'no moral compass' and was a 'disturbingly dangerous man' as she said he must serve a minimum of 15 years.
Jailed for life: Jobless father-of-17 Mick Philpott was branded a 'disturbingly dangerous man' by the judge as he was told to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison. His wife, Mairead (right) was given 17 years
She told him he was the 'driving force behind this shockingly dangerous enterprise' to set up his mistress Lisa Willis.
She 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.'
Family members in the public gallery applauded as the judge finished her sentencing. One shouted: 'Die, Mick, die.'
Another said: 'See you, Mairead. Hope you enjoy life on your own.'
'Your own babies,' another called out.
In response, Philpott smiled and made an obscene gesture as he was led from the dock.
Their accomplice Paul Mosley was also handed a 17-year jail term for his part in the fatal arson.
Child killers: Mairead and Mick Philpott (left) and their friend Paul Mosley (right) started the fatal blaze in a wicked plan to frame Philpott's live-lover Lisa Willis after she left the family home with five of her children
Drug-taking layabout: Philpott with six of the children he killed after starting the fire at his home
Fire-ravaged: Floral tributes outside the home where the six Philpott children died in the blaze
All three were each found guilty of six counts of manslaughter after an eight-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
They made a despicable gamble to start the fire and blame Miss Willis in a bid to win back custody of five children she took from the family home.
But the idiotic plan went disastrously wrong.
Too much petrol was used and the fire burned out of control – leaving Philpott unable to reach the children in temperatures approaching 1,000F.
The violent drug user was already 'earning' the equivalent of £100,000 in benefits and wages from Mairead and Miss Willis which he forced them to pay into his bank account.
But even that wasn't enough for the former soldier, who hatched a plan to frame Miss Willis for the fire which killed six of this children in an appalling attempt to secure a larger council house.
During the trial, Nottingham Crown Court heard Philpott had lost £1,000 a month when Miss Willis moved out of the family home in Allenton, Derby, with her five children.
Distraught: Mairead's sister, Bernadette Duffy (pictured with her father Jimmy Duffy outside court) told how she tried to rescue her from Philpott's clutches
Facing jail: Mick and Mairead Philpott in court for the mitigation hearing, where the judge was told he was a 'very good father'
Guilty: The Philpotts and Paul Mosley (right) react as the jury delivers its verdicts after the eight-week trial
Mairead's sisters Jennifer and Bernadette told how they frequently tried to rescue her and the children from Philpott's clutches after the household starting imploding when Miss Willis left.
They explained how Mairead attempted suicide in the months before the fire.
Jennifer Lobban told Panorama: 'We would try and get round there when he was doing the school run because we knew that he wouldn’t be in the house.
'We told her that we could go to the school, we could go now; go take the kids from school. We would get her out, but she just wouldn’t leave.'
Philpott once allowed the eldest child, Duwayne, 13, to have a sleepover at Bernadette’s house.
Bernadette said the little boy was in a terrible state, adding: 'Mick said he hadn’t eaten for a week and I took him and my little boy out for a pizza.
'I had never seen a child eat so fast in my life.’
Over the past eight weeks, Nottingham Crown Court has heard how they set fire to their house last May as part of a plan to frame Philpott’s former live-in lover Lisa Willis.
Scorched: The children perished when the fire tore through their home (above) in Derby, last May
'Didn't stand a chance': The blackened front room after the fire at the house where children perished
The fire was also set in an attempt to get a bigger council house, a demand Philpott had infamously made six years earlier on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
But the plan went tragically wrong, with the petrol-fuelled blaze burning out of control.
Jade Philpott, ten, and brothers Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died.
Later, however, Philpott was totally remorseless.
He ‘loved’ being a local celebrity and was seen 'laughing and joking' and ‘touching up’ his wife in the hospital where her son Duwayne was dying after the fire.
Then, while in custody awaiting trial, he wrote a sick prison letter boasting that if he won freedom he and his wife would celebrate by ‘raping each other’.
The note to friends detailed how he planned to get blind drunk and commit the assault straight after visiting the graves of the children he and Mairead had killed.
The correspondence emerged yesterday as his lawyers pleaded with a judge for a lenient sentence because the father of 17 was a ‘very good’ parent.
Twisted couple: Mick Philpott with his wife Mairead, who friends say did not appear remorseful after the deaths of six of their children
Young lives destroyed: (top row) Duwayne, 13, Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, (lower row) Jack, eight, Jayden, five and Jesse, six
Philpott’s lengthy criminal history has also come to light in recent days.
He appeared in court a week before the blaze last year for a road-rage attack during which he punched driver Jon Welham, 42, who had his daughter Emma, 13, with him in the car.
Philpott pleaded guilty to common assault but denied dangerous driving and was bailed awaiting trial.
In 1991, he received a two-year conditional discharge for headbutting a colleague and in 2010 was given a police caution after slapping Mairead and dragging her outside by her hair.
Anthony Orchard QC yesterday said Philpott’s conviction for stabbing his former girlfriend Kim Hill 27 times in 1978 was a ‘long time ago’ and said there was no evidence of anything like it being repeated.
But he was immediately cut off by the judge, who retorted: ‘There’s been violence in every single relationship, has there not?’
The lawyer added: ‘Despite Mr Philpott’s faults he was a very good father and loved those children. He is, as is Mairead, a parent who lost six children. He’s never been able to grieve or even to bury them.
‘He will have to live with the hatred and hostility of the press and the public for the rest of his life.’
Shaun Smith QC, for Mairead Philpott, said she was ‘an extremely good mother to all 11 children’.
‘She will be forever known as a child killer,’ he added, noting that she might face threats in prison because of the nature of her crimes.
Mosley - or 'Shakey' as he is known to friends – was also found guilty of six counts of manslaughter after Nottingham Crown Court heard he helped Philpott set the fatal fire before fleeing the scene when police were called.
He was convicted after jurors heard officers found incriminating traces of petrol on his clothes from the night of the fire, which he had spent at the Philpott’s home.
No petrol container was ever found because it is believed to have been handed from Philpott to Mosley through a front window before the fire was set.
Hours earlier he had a sordid threesome with the married couple and was, days later, taped receiving a sex act from Mrs Philpott in an attempt to keep him 'onside'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303851/Mick-Philpott-sentenced-LIFE-wife-Mairead-gets-17-years-Derby-house-plot.html#ixzz2PUdj6VPw
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