(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In this May 16, 2012 file photo, Mick Philpott, right, and wife
Mairead react during a news conference at Derby Conference Centre
following a fire at their home which claimed the lives of six of his
children, Derby, England. (AP Photo/PA, Rui Vieira, File)
LONDON (AP) — Mick
Philpott presented himself as an amiable rascal with an unorthodox
lifestyle and a rambunctious brood of children — 17 in all, with five
women.
Yet the Englishman's ramshackle existence took a horrifying
turn when he and his wife set a fire that killed six of their children.
Prosecutors said it was an attempt to influence a custody battle that
"went disastrously and tragically wrong."
The May 2012 deaths and
the twisting saga that ensued have shocked Britain and sparked debate on
everything from sexism to Britain's welfare system.
A judge said
she would sentence Mick and Mairead Philpott on Thursday for their
manslaughter convictions in the deaths of Jayden, Jesse, Jack, John,
Jade and Duwayne, aged 5 to 13.
Prosecutors said the couple
hatched a plan to start a gasoline-fueled fire and then rescue the
children, pinning blame on Philpott's mistress so he could gain
advantage in their child custody battle.
The plan went wrong
within minutes, because the fire was far bigger than expected and the
father was unable to smash a window to get in, prosecutors said.
The
couple and a friend who helped them, Paul Mosley, were all convicted of
manslaughter this week at England's Nottingham Crown Court.
Before
the fire, Philpott, now 56, was a local celebrity — nicknamed
"Shameless Mick" after a television program about a disreputable
working-class clan — who had appeared on a daytime talk show defending
his lifestyle. In 2007, a Conservative lawmaker stayed at his home for a
week as she filmed a critical documentary about Britain's welfare
system.
The jury — and the nation — got a close-up look during the
trial at Philpott's messy life with his 32-year-old wife, his
girlfriend and as many as 11 children in a three-bedroom social housing
property in Derby, central England. They heard of his threesomes and
public sex, of Philpott's controlling behavior and of his bizarre claim
that he had not washed for 12 weeks before the fire.
Shortly before the fire, girlfriend
Lisa Willis
moved out, taking her five children with her. Philpott's five children
with Mairead and his wife's 13-year-old son from a previous relationship
remained in the home and died in the blaze.
After the fire, the
Philpotts made an emotional appeal on television, with Mick describing
how he had battled the flames to try to save his children.
But
police soon grew suspicious of the couple's erratic behavior and bugged
the hotel room where they were staying. The jury was played recordings
of Philpott asking his wife: "Are you sticking to the story?"
The couple was arrested two weeks after the fire and charged with murder, later downgraded to manslaughter.
"It
was started as a result of a plan between the three of them to turn
family court proceedings in Mr. Philpott's favor," said Crown
Prosecution Service adviser Samantha Shallow. "It was a plan that went
disastrously and tragically wrong."
