Mick Philpott guilty: How a community's sympathy turned to outrage

The community of Allenton in Derby mourned after six young siblings died in their beds in a fire set by their parents at the family home.

Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jessie, six, Jayden, five, and Duwayne, 13, were overcome by the smoke after their father Mick used petrol to set the fire in the hallway of the semi-detached house in the early hours of May 11 last year.

"It wasn't meant to end this way," he was heard to say following the deaths.

He had hoped to light the fire, rescue the youngsters through a back bedroom window, and frame his ex live-in mistress Lisa Willis for the attack so he could win custody of her five children, four fathered by him.

The plan went wrong, with the blaze much bigger than he expected and the window he intended to rescue the children through shut, his trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Six innocent and happy children became the victims of this ill-thought-out plan.

[Read more: Mick Philpott was a controlling, manipulative and domineering man]

After their deaths, feeling on the Allenton estate where the family lived was one of unity and support for the Philpotts.

Many people who knew and socialised with Philpott and his family - which was said to have included 17 of his biological children before the fire - defended his lifestyle, saying negative representations of the area and the man did not live up to the reality.

One local, Bobby Sutherland, was inspired to set up a charity to help pay for the children's funerals, who he said Philpott loved desperately.

Fighting back tears as he stood in the street outside the fire-ravaged family home, Mr Sutherland said at the time: "Yeah they can slag him off, but he loved his kids.

"Who doesn't make a mistake?

"Yeah you make mistakes but you don't deserve that. Nobody deserves that. You know what I mean?"

Weeks after the blaze the parents were charged, shocking the nation along with members of the community who had seen Philpott as a loving family man.

Local feeling turned to anger and upset - a disgruntled group even stood outside court ahead of the couple's first appearance and hurled abuse as prison vans drove them in.

But the community of Allenton pressed ahead with raising money to ensure the children were buried with dignity.

Hundreds of mourners attended the service at St Mary's Church in Derby six weeks after the blaze.

The hearse carrying the body of Jade led the cortege with a horse with pink feathers.

Five more hearses, each with blue feathers, followed carrying the bodies of her brothers.

The six coffins were carried solemnly into the church for the requiem mass.

The parents were notably missing, refused leave to attend the service over fears they would provoke a "lynch mob" atmosphere at which their safety could not be guaranteed.

The service reflected the shock at such a loss of so many young lives.

Witnesses during the trial described the children as happy, well cared for and well brought up.

At their funerals, six smiling young faces adorned the pages of the order of service, each child dressed in their school uniform in the pictures.

Mourners were called on to wear bright clothes for a service which would celebrate the lives of the youngsters.

A homily was read by Father Alan Burbidge after prayers were said and hymns sung.

He said of the six: "Their smiles will now light up the face of God."

Derby County football shirts were draped over the coffins during the service.

Duwayne regularly attended matches with his younger brothers and Mick.

The 13-year-old, described as a caring, quiet child, loved music and was learning to play the violin. As the oldest, he became the protector for his younger brothers and sister.

He was close to his sister Jade, who would act as "mother hen" to her younger brothers and could always been seen carrying them around.

The 10-year-old, who was very intelligent and praised by teachers, was her mother's "princess" and was known to always have a smile on her face.

Teachers described John as cheerful, smiley and polite. Known as "the cheeky chappy", he had a "daredevil personality" and aspired to be a soldier when he was older.

His mischievous brother Jesse, six, was also described as fearless, getting into scrambles with his brothers and coming in from the garden head to toe in muck.

Meanwhile Mairead's "blue-eyed boy" Jack would be happier inside playing video games and watching Peppa Pig.

The eight-year-old, who was the quietest of the children, was described as "cute, cuddly and content with everything".

The youngest of the six, Jayden, was "bouncy and hyperactive". Nicknamed the "miracle baby" by his parents after being born six week early, the five-year-old was mothered by sister Jade.

Jayden was wearing his school uniform in bed on the night of the fire because "he never liked taking it off", his parents' trial heard.

Many who followed media coverage of the trial might have felt the deaths were overshadowed by reports of the sordid details of the unconventional relationship their parents led, but the children were never far from the minds of those in the courtroom.

Family and friends wept in the public gallery as they heard the desperate 999 call made by the Philpotts, by then realising the enormity of what they had done as the blaze tore through their house.

More tears fell as firefighters described finding the children in their beds and carrying their bodies out of the house.

The thick smoke claimed the lives of five of the six children at the scene and they were pronounced dead on arrival at Derby Royal Hospital.

The sixth, Duwayne, only had a pulse after being resuscitated and was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital but he died two days later.

In a statement read to the court, Stuart Hamilton, a Home Office-registered pathologist, said five of the children would have died from inhalation of the products of combustion.

He said the children would have been "rendered unconscious without necessarily having woken from sleep".

Dwayne's cause of death was given as hypoxic ischaemic brain injury, the combination of inhalation of the products of combustion and the consequence of a cardiac arrest.

Prosecutor Richard Latham QC said it was a "blessing" that it was unlikely the children were aware of the fire.

It will be a small blessing for their parents, who must live with the blood of their six children on their hands - a heavier sentence than any judge can hand down.