Philpott deaths ‘could not have been prevented’
The deaths of the six Philpott children in a house fire started by their parents “could not have been predicted or prevented”, a serious case review finds.
The report carried out by the Derby Safeguarding Children Board in the aftermath of the tragedy found that various professionals who had contact with the Philpott family could not have foreseen the fire. But the report concluded that there were chances to get to know the family better.
A statement from the board said: “The board concludes that the tragic deaths of the children could not have been predicted or prevented.”
But it added: “However, given the notoriety of the father, the incidents of domestic abuse and visibility of the children, there were some opportunities to get to know the family better although this would not have led to professionals becoming aware that there were plans to deliberately set fire to the house when the children were sleeping.”
Mick and Mairead Philpott were jailed in April 2013, along with their friend Paul Mosley, after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Jade Philpott and her brothers John, Jack, Jesse, Jayden and Duwayne.
The children’s parents and Mosley had hatched a plan to frame Philpott’s former mistress who had recently left the family.
‘Unorthodox’ living
The serious case review found that the living arrangements at Victory Road were “unorthodox and not one that professionals often come across” because prior to the fire, Mick Philpott had lived at home with his wife and his former mistress, along with their 11 children.
At the time of the blaze he lived in the council house with just his wife and the six children who died in the fire.
Agency checks not long before the fire would have revealed “happy, well-adjusted children”, the review found, but available information would have confirmed Mick Philpott as “manipulative and controlling”. However it concluded that there was little known at the time about violence in the household, and no grounds for statutory intervention.
The report stated that the set-up at Victory Road was “not kept secret” and known to a number of agencies, as well as being well-known through Mick Philpott’s appearances on television and in newspapers as he appealed for a bigger council house.