Philpott trial timeline

Mairead and Mick Philpott were found guilty of manslaughter following the deaths of their six children Credit: PA

13 March 2006

Mick Philpott tells ITV News Central his council house is not large enough to fit his fifteen children, wife and pregnant girlfriend. He appeals to the council to find him a new home.

22 March 2006

National coverage following Mick Philpott's demands leads to some of his benefits being frozen. Tabloids dub him "Shameless Mick" for his claims and refusal to get a job.

7 March 2007

Mick Philpott becomes a father for the eighteenth time. A few weeks earlier his seventeenth child, Jayden, (one of the children killed in the house fire) is born six weeks premature.

22 August 2007

Mick Philpott discusses living with 11 of his children and his wife and mistress in the ITV programme 'Ann Widecombe versus the benefit culture' as the former Conservative MP moves in for a week.

February 2012

Lisa Willis moves out of the Philpott home on Victory Road, Allenton, Derby. She takes her five children, four fathered by Mick Philpott, with her.

11 May 2012

Emergency services are called to a house fire on Victory Road in the early hours of the morning.

Five children - Jade, John, Jack, Jesse and Jayden are pronounced dead.

Duwayne Philpott is taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital and is said to be in a serious condition.

Lisa Willis and another man are arrested in connection with the fire. Miss Willis is later released.

12 May 2012

A special service is held in memory of the five children who died in the house fire. It takes place at St George's Roman Catholic Church where the Philpott family are members.

A collection is started by friends and family in memory of them.

13 May 2012

Duwayne Philpott becomes the sixth child to die due to the house fire in Derby after his parents agree to allow his life support system to be switched off.

Derbyshire Police confirm the fire was started deliberately.

15 May 2012

Residents of Allenton set up a trust fund to help pay for the funerals of the Philpott children and to find the couple a new home. A £5,000 reward is offered by local owners for information leading to a conviction.

Police begin bugging the Philpotts' room at the Premier Inn in Derby.

16 May 2012

Mick and Mairead Philpott speak in public for the first time at a media conference.

They thank the community for their support and promise they will donate the organs of one of their children in the hope some good can come from their death.

18 May 2012

An inquest into the children's deaths is opened and adjourned at Derby Coroner's Court.

29 May 2012

Mick and Mairead Philpott are arrested this morning on suspicion of murder.

30 May 2012

Mick and Mairead Philpott are charged with murder.

31 May 2012

The Philpotts appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court

Artist impression by courts artist Elizabeth Cook of Mick Philpott and his wife Mairead appearing at Nottingham Crown Credit: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire

1 June 2012

Amid shouts from the public gallery, the Philpotts appear at Nottingham Crown Court for the first time.

22 June 2012

Funeral services are held for the six children at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Derby.

In a service that lasted an hour and a half, tributes to the children's kindness, loyalty, and caring nature were read out by the priest and teachers from the children's school.

Mick and Mairead are prevented from attending.

The funeral of the six Philpott children takes place Credit: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

5 November 2012

45 year-old Paul Mosley is arrested and charged with the murder of the six children.

6 November 2012

Paul Mosley is remanded into custody at Derby Magistrates' Court.

8 November 2012

Mick and Mairead Philpott plead not guilty to six counts of murder at Nottingham Crown Court. Mosley appears alongside them in the dock but does not enter a plea to the same charges.

17 December 2012

The Philpotts and Paul Mosley have their charges amended to manslaughter. The Philpotts appear via video link at Birmingham Crown Court and deny the charges.

12 February 2013

Prosecutors in the trial tell the court it was a 'plan that went horribly wrong.'

13 February 2013

The mistress of Mick Philpott, Lisa Willis, takes to the stands and claims he beat her "five to 10 times" on her legs, back and arms with a piece of 2x2 wood after he disputed the identity of her baby Jordan's father.

Artist sketch of Lisa Willis giving evidence from behind a screen Credit: ITV News Central

14 February 2013

Two of Mick Philpott's former partners take to the stands to give evidence. One of them tells the court that on occasion, he'd pinned her to the floor and 'put the fear of God' in her.

20 February 2013

The first police officer to arrive at the scene of the fire tells the court how he tried to resuscitate them as they lay unconscious in the street.

Constable Amerjit Thandi tells the jury that he had made frantic efforts to get into the house, but had been beaten back by the smoke and flames.

Jury also hears Mairead Philpott took an overdose of up to 128 Paracetamol tablets in February last year.

21 February 2013

A firefighter who was called to the house tells the court of the moment he found 'casualties everywhere'.

Michael Patterson says smoke was so thick inside the building he could barely see his hands in front of his face.

25 February 2013

A neighbour, Adam Taylor, tells the jury that in the days after the fire Mick Philpott's behaviour 'was still the same'.

26 February 2013

Witness Louise Quantick tells the jury she heard Mick Philpott tell another man at the Royal Derby hospital that 'It wasn't meant to end like this.'

27 February 2013

Witness Helen Armstrong tells the jury that at the Gala Bingo club at Sinfin in Derby last June she overheard Paul Mosley say to a man called Andy Faulkner "I think I'd better hand myself in."

28 February 2013

The jury hears audio of Mick and Mairead Philpott talking in their hotel bedroom while watching ITV News Central.

Mick Philpott allegedly says to Mairead: "You make sure you stick to your story."

1 March 2013

The 999 call made by Mick & Mairead Philpott on the night of the house fire is played to the court.

5 March 2013

The court hears that additives of petrol from Total and BP were found on Mick Philpott's tracksuit bottoms and low levels of Total petrol were found on slippers recovered from 18 Victory Rd in Derby.

13 March 2013

Mick Philpott tells the jury he did not set the fire, or have anything to do with starting the fire at their home on Victory Road in Derby.

He says that several hours before the fire at his home on Victory Road he, his wife Mairead and their friend Paul Mosley briefly engaged in 'sexual activity.'

Mick Philpott also collapses on the stand as he listens to the 999 call.

Mick Philpott collapses and breaks down in court Credit: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire

14 March 2013

Mick Philpott tells the jury he had no suspicions that his ex-mistress started the fire.

He also claims his wife and mistress 'were lovers.'

15 March 2013

The court hears that the petrol found on Mick Philpott's clothing didn't match the type found in his garden strimmer.

He had suggested that the petrol contamination on his clothing came from the strimmer.

18 March 2013

Mairead Philpott says she played no part in the fire.

She also tells the jury that she was badly "abused" by her father when she was three or four years old, and that she was raped while on holiday as a teenager.

19 March 2013

Mairead Philpott tells a jury that on the 6th April, last year, she received no silent phone call to her mobile.

Earlier in the trial Mick Philpott testified that on that day Mairead had called him saying she'd had a phone call from someone threatening to 'torch the house.'

Mairead Philpott tells the jury that she was more a slave than a wife to Mick Philpott and that she 'has no idea' how petrol got on her leggings.

20 March 2013

Paul Mosley exercises his right to silence and refuses to give evidence.

27 March 2013

After days of summing up, the jury retires to consider its verdict.

2 April 2013

After being given an option of a majority verdict, the jury finds Mick and Mairead Philpott and Paul Mosley each guilty of all six charges of manslaughter.

Mick Philpott kisses a cross around his neck. One for each of his six dead children as the verdicts are read out Credit: ITV News Central

4 April

  • Mick Philpott sentenced to life - will serve at least 15 years in prison

  • Mairead Philpott sentenced to 17 years in prison - will serve at least half

  • Paul Mosley sentenced to 17 years in prison