28th February 1997: A breathtaking act of violence on the streets of Los Angeles plays live on national television. This is no cops and robbers movie. It’s real. Two armed men have hit a North Hollywood bank and seem to be cornered by police. But these two haven’t just turned up to rob a bank. Dressed like post-apocalyptic warriors, they take on the police with calculated savagery, blasting them with vastly superior firepower. Zero Hour s3e4: North Hollywood Shootout
The body armour weighs less than the chips on their shoulders. ibid.
PHILPOTT, MICK & MAIREAD & PAUL MOSLEY: Crimes that Shook Britain TV - Mail online - Faking It Special TV - The Philpott Fire: Five Years On TV - Britain’s Most Evil Killers TV - Philpott: 5 Mistakes that Caught the Killer TV - The Philpott Fire: What Happened Next TV - The Philpott Fire: A Very British Horror Story TV -
When a fire ripped through a family home in 2012 the nation’s sympathy went out to the parents. But only a few days later questions began to surface about who actually started the fire. The police investigation would uncover a sordid tale of revenge, lies and obsession. The tragic killing of the six Philpott children was a crime that shook Britain. Crimes that Shook Britain: The Philpotts s/a Philpotts: Britain’s Worst Crimes, 2014
He harboured a sinister past. Even after his conviction, Mick Philpott’s relationships were characterised by violence and abuse. ibid.
Philpott had been living with the two women for twelve years. ibid.
The children’s parents had stood by and watched. ibid.
He treated his 17 sons and daughters like cash cows – generating a staggering benefits income of £60,000 a year.
Yesterday, Mick Philpott remained shameless to the last.
The drug-taking layabout, who embodies everything that is wrong with the welfare state, was still smiling even after being convicted of killing six of his children.
Together with his wife Mairead and friend Paul Mosley, he plotted to set fire to the family home in an appalling attempt to frame Philpott’s former live-in lover Lisa Willis.
The deadly gamble was to save the six youngsters, blame Miss Willis, and win back custody of five children who had recently moved out of the cramped three-bedroom semi with her. Mail online article April/May 2013, ‘Vile product of Welfare UK: Man who bred 17 babies by five women to milk benefits system is guilty of killing six of them’
Derby 2012: A tragedy that stunned Britain. First their father was seen as a hero. Then suspicions grew. Faking It Special s1e12: Mick Philpott
Ten seconds in, the performance of fake sadness is on. ibid. Cliff
Having lost six or their children, they still can’t get a tear? And you can see Mick go red in the face and almost trying to force one out. So the emotion for their children isn’t there, for what ever reason. ibid. Kerry
We’re ten years on now and yet this case still shocks. How can someone play so fast and loose with their children’s lives? ibid. Kerry
He was claiming £50,000 in state benefits. And lapping up the notoriety. ibid.
‘Get a job! Get a job!’ ibid. Ann Widdecombe
Mick Philpott had a long history of abusive behaviour towards women. ibid.
Mick Philpott arranged a press conference but said no questions would be allowed. ibid.
But there’s no tears. ibid. Dawn
His children were possessions for him. ibid. Kerry
18, Victory Road, Derby, May 2012: At 4 in the morning, fire roars through a family’s home. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s1e1: Philpott, 2017
Philpott’s reputation around Derby had made him a tabloid villain. Multiple partners, many children. Making £50,000 a year in state benefits but no job. ibid.
Right away, Philpott blamed his ex-mistress for starting the fire. A claim the police quickly discounted. ibid.
‘The Mick Philpott show, written by him, to be performed by him, with Mairead there as supporting cast.’ ibid. rozzer
This is fake. This is posed sadness … so this is a performance. ibid. Cliff
When you’ve lost six of your kids, you don’t feel anything like grateful … and usually we’ve got tears. ibid. Kerry
It was the heartbreaking story that horrified Britain. Six children killed in a house fire. The truth behind it was shocking. Parents who seemed distraught were responsible for their deaths. Mick Philpott, already notorious for his strange love life and seventeen kids … in one of the nation’s most notorious crimes. The Philpott Fire: Five Years On, Channel 5 2017
The 11th May 2012 3.30 a.m. Derbyshire emergency services receive a horrifying 999 call. Six children are trapped inside a blazing house. ibid.
How did a complex web of sex, lies and tangled relationships end in such a tragedy? ibid.
‘He also has signs of being a psychopath, a lack of emotion, a lack of remorse.’ ibid. Dr Adam Lynes, criminologist
‘The way he treated women was appalling.’ ibid. Carole Malone
Those who knew the Philpotts were already becoming suspicious. ibid.
Mick and Mairead were busy partying at their local pub. ibid.
On Friday 11th May 2012 a fire ripped through a family home in Derby, East Midlands. Trapped inside and fast asleep were six young children. Britain’s Most Evil Killers s2e1: Mick Philpott, Sky Living 2018
This was no accident. As Mick Philpott, the children’s father, wept in front of the British public he was hiding a sinister secret: he had deliberately started the fire. ibid.
After his release from prison [1982], Philpott had a series of volatile relationships. ibid.
Philpott was known nationally as a benefits scrounger. He abused and controlled his women, and used his children to get more handouts. ibid.
Six children dead, two parents under suspicion, a father with a violent history, and a taste for the media limelight … a plan that went tragically wrong, and a cover-up that unravelled as police listened in. Philpott: 5 Mistakes that Caught the Killer, Channel 5 2020
With an unconvincing [press conference] performance, the couple said they were unwilling to take questions. But the media had their suspicions about Mick Philpott even before the press conference … He preferred to live off state benefits rather than work. ibid.
At the time of the wedding one of the bridesmaids was pregnant with the groom’s baby … Soon afterwards, she moved in with the couple … Philpott had a string of affairs. ibid.
When the local authority refused to move him from his three-bedroom house he took his campaign public … He set fire to his own home. ibid.
Philpott’s taste for violence against women stretched back decades. ibid.
Philpott then bungled the plan, using too much petrol and creating an uncontrollable inferno. ibid.
In a cemetery a few miles from the centre of Derby lies six graves. Each of the headstones marks a final resting place of a family of children. The events that led to the children’s deaths began back in May 2003 when a 19-year-old single mother called Mairead Duffy married her fiancé … Whether his new bride was aware of Philpott’s history is unknown. But even on their wedding day Mairead’s father was concerned. The Philpott Fire: An Evil Conspiracy, Channel 5 2021