London : Couple faces jail for killing six kids in fire

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON: 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 tomorrow 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-fuelled 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 programme 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 behaviour 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.