Philpott trial day 10: Neighbour tells court of scene that confronted him at blaze home

The case against three people accused of killing six children in a Derby house fire resumed this morning. Parents Mick Philpott, his wife Mairead, and family friend Paul Mosley, have pleaded not guilty to six counts of manslaughter. Duwayne Philpott, 13, his sister, Jade, 10, and their brothers, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died from the effects of smoke inhalation after flames tore through their home in Victory Road, Allenton, on May 11 last year.3.10pm Jamie Butler said he ran up the street after hearing a commotion. He said: "The door was on fire, it was impossible to get in. I climbed on to the caravan roof and jumped into the back garden "I asked them [Philpott and his wife] where the children were. Mick said they were all in the back bedroom."3pm The next witness is Mr Butler's brother Jamie.2.55pm Mr Butler told the court that he saw Philpott outside a neighbour's house. He said: "Mick was shouting at the police officers. He was saying: 'I told you that this would happen'." Mr Butler said he then saw Philpott after the fire. He told the court: "He was coughing but it was fake. That was not a man coughing from smoke inhalation."2.50pm The new witness Darren Butler told the court how he and his brother Jamie ran to the house on the night of the fire. He said: "I was not just worried for the children but also for my brother because he is the sort of person who would not think about his own safety in a situation like that. "There was thick, black smoke coming from the window at the top of the stairs"2.40pm The trial has resumed and the next witness is the Philpotts' neighbour Darren Butler.1.10pm The case has been adjourned until 2.20pm.12.15pm The next witness is Vicky Ferguson, partner of the Philpotts' neighbour Adam Taylor. Miss Ferguson said Philpott preferred Ms Willis to his wife. She said: "Everyone could see it. Mairead did all the house work. She would make him toast, coffee, roll his roll-up." She said Ms Willis confided in her the night before she left that she was walking out on Philpott. She said: "She told me to promise her that I would not tell anyone." On the night of the fire Mairead went to Miss Ferguson's house to talk about the following day's court proceedings. "She (Mairead) was stoned. She said she'd had a smoke. I knew she smoked weed but she didn't smoke it very often," Miss Ferguson said. She said she saw the Philpotts at her home after the fire. She said: "They were normal. It was not the sort of behaviour you would expect from parents who had just lost six children." Miss Ferguson said a few days after the fire Philpott told her that he was going to renew his wedding vows with his wife. "He say `Listen to this, get your suits out, I am asking Mairead to renew our wedding vows'."12.05pm Shaun Smith, for Mairead, read out part of her suicide note in court. In it she wrote: "I am going to go so that all our 11 children can be together and you and Lisa will be happy."10.45am The first witness this morning is neighbour Adam Taylor. He told the court that Philpott told him he wanted his former mistress, Lisa Willis, back "more than anything". Mr Taylor said: "Mick put Mairead on the back shelf which I thought was wrong." He also said that Mairead left a suicide note during a failed overdose attempt. Mr Taylor said: "Mick said it read that if she did it he would be happy." Mr Taylor said he went to Philpott's house the night of the fire. He told the court that he and Philpott went to buy cannabis from someone Mr Taylor knew in Marlborough Road. "Mick was paranoid about getting the kids (those he has with Ms Willis). He was adamant he wanted full custody," Mr Taylor said. He said Philpott asked him to try to provoke Ian Cousins into punching Philpott. He said: "Mick wanted someone to film him being punched so he could use it in his custody battle." 10.30am Mick Philpott is wearing a black suit, white shirt and pink tie; Mairead Philpott is in a black jumper and Paul Mosley is wearing a black coat and jumper.

MORE residents of Victory Road are expected to give evidence when the trial of three people accused of killing six children in a house fire in Derby resumes today.

A list of seven more prosecution witnesses, including people who tried to help save the children, was presented to the media when the case was adjourned on Friday.

They are among a total of 103 people who may be called to give evidence in the trial of Mick Philpott, his wife Mairead and family friend Paul Mosley, who all deny six charges of manslaughter.

It is alleged that they are responsible for the deaths of the six Philpott children.

Jade Philpott, 10, her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died from the effects of smoke inhalation after the blaze tore through their Allenton home on May 11 last year.

Their older brother Duwayne, 13, who Philpott is not the biological father of, died the following day at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The prosecution claims Philpott, 56, was the "prime mover" in a plan to frame his former mistress, Lisa Willis, who lived at the house with her five children, four of whom Philpott is the father of, until three months before the blaze.

On the last day of evidence at Nottingham Crown Court, on Friday, neighbours told how they tried frantically to get inside the house as the flames took control.

Daniel Stevenson, who lived three doors away, wiped away tears as he recalled three attempts to get inside the house, only to be beaten back by the intense heat and thick smoke.

He told the jury: "I picked up a pickaxe that was on the roof of the conservatory, I smashed a window and a gust of smoke flew out.

"I couldn't see anything, there was too much smoke."

Philpott, his wife, 31, and Mosley, 45, of Cecil Street, Derby, have all pleaded not guilty to six counts of manslaughter.

Their trial is expected to last for a minimum of six weeks.

*THE PHILPOTT TRIAL: Visit our Philpott trial channel here for all related stories in the fire death case.