Judge's final say on 'dangerous' Philpott

SHAMELESS Mick Philpott campaigned loudly and publicly for a new home paid for by the state and now he has got his wish.

But the comforts at Her Majesty's Prison will be a far cry from the bigger council house he had in mind.

The 56-year-old has been jailed for life for the manslaughter of six of his 17 children and told it would be "a minimum of 15 years" before he could apply for parole.

For a man who spent his life violently controlling women there was both poetic justice and deep irony that it was a female judge who turned the key – putting Philpott behind bars until the age of 71 at the very earliest.

During 15 minutes of verbal body blows to the convicted child killer, Dame Justice Kate Thirlwall QC called him "violently aggressive," "controlling" and "disturbingly dangerous".

She said: "You were and remain the centre of your world and it is plain that you require the women in your life to make sure that you remained at the centre of their world.

"Everything was done for the pleasure of Michael Philpott.

"It has been said on your behalf that you were a good father. I cannot give that description to a man that acted as you did.

"You are a disturbingly dangerous man. You have no moral compass."

Philpott remained emotionless in the dock through the criticism.

Even as she told him she was jailing him for life he looked down without any of the crying, sobbing or theatrical collapses that he displayed during the prosecution's evidence against him in the seven-week long trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

The only time he appeared to weep was when Justice Thirlwall told the silent courtroom that she was jailing his wife, Mairead, for 17 years for her part in the "plan that went tragically wrong".

And the true Michael Philpott, the "Shameless Mick" of the tabloids, who first came to public attention when he criticised Derby City council for not giving him a bigger council house, came out as he was led away from the dock.

His sister, Dawn Bestwick, who had been to every day of the trail, screamed "die, Mick, die" from the public gallery.

Philpott screwed up his face and aggressively stuck two fingers up to her and the rest of the people who had crammed into courtroom.

Sentencing the trio, Justice Thirlwall said: "I have not the slightest doubt that you, Michael Philpott, were the driving force behind this shockingly dangerous enterprise.

"You, Mairead Philpott, the mother of all those children and you, Paul Mosley, a family friend, assisted him.

"Let me be clear. 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, Michael Philpott, could rescue them and be the hero.

"Their terror was the price they were going to pay for your callous selfishness. In fact, they paid with their six young lives."

Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died at the home at 18 Victory Road, Allenton, following the fire which started at 3.46am on May 11 last year.

Neighbours, firefighters and police all tried to save the youngsters but five of them were declared dead when they arrived at the Royal Derby Hospital. Duwayne died the following day at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The cause of death for all six of the children was smoke inhalation.

Before sentencing, there was a noticeable air of tension and excitement as the three child killers were led into the dock.

Forty five minutes later, as Justice Thirlwall stood up to leave, there were shouts of "murderers" and "scum" from the public gallery.

As she left the court building, Mrs Bestwick raised a fist in salute at the gathered media and said: "Victory to the children, they have gone down, RIP, that's all."

Bernadette Duffy, the younger sister of Mairead, walked away from the press pack without commenting.

Speaking after the hearing Andy Lyons, the partner of Mosley's eldest sister, Angela, 48, of Spondon, said: "In England we are not a third world country, we don't have an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

"But what we do have is a judicial system that makes our nation the greatest in the world.

"We believe that the judge has handed down the strongest sentences she can for these heinous crimes and for that we thank her.

"They are three massive sentences and although nothing will bring those six young children back we are delighted that justice has been served and that these three monsters will not see freedom for many, many years."

The Philpotts were arrested and charged on May 29 while Mosley, 46, of Cecil Street, Derby, was charged on November 4.

The fire was started as part of a plan to frame Philpott's former live-in mistress, Lisa Willis, who lived at 18 Victory Road for 10 years with her five children, four of whom Philpott fathered.

On February 11 last year she walked out for the last time, taking those five children with her.

A bitter custody battle ensued. Philpott and Ms Willis were due in court in Derby for a residency hearing on the morning of the fire.

Justice Thirlwall said: "You were obsessed with Lisa Willis.

"Indeed, it was plain to me when you were giving evidence over more that three days in the witness box that you still are.

"The evidence shows you tried sweet-talking her.

"You tried cajoling and then bullying her.

"Sometimes you moved between the three tactics but she would not come back and 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 a plan together.

"The plan, which you had plainly been considering for some time, was to set fire to your home on the night before the court hearing, making it look as though the fire had been set from outside."

Justice Thirlwall said the "wicked and dangerous plan" involved Philpott pouring petrol on the floor of the hallway inside the front door.

She said father-of-two Mosley's role was to remove the containers before Philpott ignited the petrol.

She said: "It became clear that there was no chance of a successful rescue and the children perished."

Justice Thirlwall stared at Philpott before calmly saying to him: "You lied to the police and you lied to the jury. Ever since the fire your life has been a performance for the public, the police and then this court.

"You made sure that Mairead stuck to the story, checking with her at every opportunity that she wasn't going to stray, as you put it.

"You knew that Mairead would do almost anything for your approval, to please you, to get your attention.

"The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.

"You are a disturbingly dangerous man."

Justice Thirlwall explained to the court that the charge was concurrent with each of the six charges but that she was required by parliament to set a time period before he would be eligible for parole.

That period is 15 years.

Mairead Philpott looked shocked and wiped tears from her eyes after being told she would serve half of her 17 year sentence behind bars before being eligible to be released on licence.

Justice Thirlwall said: "The risks of the fire were obvious and overwhelming and anyone who has heard the harrowing wailing from you on the 999 call can hear your realisation that this has gone horribly wrong and your children were in mortal danger.

"Your first responsibility surely, was to your children.

"Instead you joined in with this plan.

"You put Michael Philpott above your children and as a result they have died."

Mosley, who has children of his own aged eight and six, shook his head in disbelief as Justice Thirlwall also handed him a 17-year sentence, to run concurrently for each of the six charges.

She said: "You have young children of your own. You must appreciate the appalling risk to which these six children were to be exposed when this fire was started in their home. Yet you were prepared to go along with the plan."