A mum who killed her six children in an arson attack has been freed from jail after serving just eight years – half of her 17-year sentence.
Mairead Philpott, 39, was jailed for manslaughter in 2013, one year after she, her husband Mick and their friend Paul Mosley killed their children in a house fire.
The couple had planned for the blaze to look like an attack orchestrated by Mick’s mistress Lisa Willis, who had recently left their home with her children. They hoped the damage would also result in them getting a bigger council house in Osmaston, Derby.
But after using petrol to start the fire, the Philpotts were unable to fight the flames and rescue their children. Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, all died during the blaze on May 11, and Duwayne, 13, passed away in hospital three days later.
This week Philpott was released from HMP Send in Surrey and moved to a halfway house. Photos showed her being escorted by plain-clothes police, with her belongings in a see-through bag.
Her release has now sparked anger from those who believe she should have served longer in jail – including her own mum. Vera, 62, told The Sun: ‘The sentence is not nearly long enough and we disown her after what she’s done.’
David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said Phipott’s early release made an ‘absolute mockery’ of the nation’s criminal justice system, and said she ‘should not be free to roam the streets’.
He went on: ‘She has served barely more than a year for each of the six innocent lives she callously took away. She is back on the streets while the taxpayer coughs up for her to get a new identity, protection, counselling and a place to live.’
Mr Spencer confirmed that Home Secretary Priti Patel had since promised a review of sentencing, although it is unclear if this will impact Philpott’s case.
Philpott will stay in the halfway house, with a 7pm to 7am curfew, for three months, before she is freed under a new identity. She is banned from returning to Derby, where the children were killed.
She and Mick had initially received a huge outpouring of support after the fire, as they begged for the public to help find the culprit at a press conference.
Police then became suspicious of the pair and bugged their hotel room, which led to them discovering Mick had come up with the arson plot.
Philpott and Mosley were jailed for 17 years, while Mick received a life sentence, with a minimum term of 15 years.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/29/mum-who-killed-her-six-children-is-released-after-eight-years-13671880/