Politics
Where is Mick Philpott’s wife Mairead now?
MICK and Mairead Philpott were jailed in 2013 for killing their six children in a fire.
But who is she, and where is she now? Here’s all you need to know.
PA:Press AssociationThe couple made a tearful appeal for witnesses at a press conference following the fire[/caption]
Who is Mairead Philpott?
Mairead Philpott is the wife of Mick Philpott.
He became a notorious figure for reportedly having 17 children by multiple mothers, and generating a large income through benefits.
Philpott had been given a seven-year sentence for attempted murder in the late 1970s, and five-year concurrent sentence for grievous bodily harm with intent, but he was released after just over three years.
Then 21, he attacked his former girlfriend, who was then 17, with a knife as she lay in bed after ending their relationship.
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He then attacked her mother when she intervened.
The pair married and lived together with their children in Allenton, Derby.
They were jailed in 2013 for killing their children, along with family friend Paul Mosley.
When did she marry Mick Philpott?
Mairead and Mick Philpott married in 2003, and shared a three-bed council home with their children and Mick’s live-in mistress Lisa Willis.
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They were granted a divorce in November 2014, after Mick agreed to a separation from prison, were he’s serving a life sentence for the killings.
In early 2021, after hearing that Mick wanted a reunion, she told a friend: “He may want a romantic reunion but he is not having one.
“He’s an idiot. I don’t want anything to do with him. He can do one.”
How many children does she have?
Mairead had five children with Mick Philpott, a daughter, Jade, and sons, John, Jack, Jessie and Jayden.
Photos published in March 2021 showed she still bore a tattoo in tribute to her five-year-old Jayden – whom she called her “miracle baby” in court because he was born six weeks premature.
She also had another son Duwayne from a previous relationship who lived with her and Mick.
All six of the children died in the arson attack.
Why did she kill her children?
In 2012, Mick Philpott hatched a plan with Mairead and family friend Paul Mosley to incriminate his ex-mistress Lisa Willis and pose as a hero who saved his children.
Willis had left the house with her four children a few months earlier.
A custody hearing over the children was scheduled to take place on the morning of the fire.
But the plan to rescue the children went catastrophically wrong.
The fire, which was started with petrol poured through the letter box, rapidly got out of control, and Mick Philpott was beaten back by the flames.
The couple made a tearful appeal for witnesses at a press conference following the fire.
Mick Philpott was given a life sentence while Mairead and family friend Paul Mosley both received 17-year sentences.
Where is Mairead now?
Mairead was released in late 2020 after serving half of her 17-year manslaughter jail term.
She was transferred to HM Prison Send for the last month of her time in jail to help prepare her for her release.
She was driven to a halfway house before being freed under a new name.
Her decision to free her was heavily criticised.
At the time, David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It makes an absolute mockery of the UK’s criminal justice system. Justice has not been done.
“Child killers like Mairead Philpott should not be free to roam the streets.
“She has served barely more than a year for each of the six innocent lives she callously took away.”
In March 2021, she was spotted while out shopping.
A source at the time said: “She is being eased back into life in the community.
“If she continues to comply with her probation requirements she will be able to slip back into life somewhere largely undetected.
“She’s very much hoping for a fresh start.”
She was spotted again in May 2021 visiting a pub and going shopping in Berkshire.
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She refused to comment on her day out.
In June 2021, she was reported to be staying temporarily in a hostel, and set to move into a taxpayer funded one-bed flat in the South of England within weeks.
