The Philpotts charged...

[rowanwitch]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...d-derbyshire-18261680

In court today... this could be a long drawn out case

[pdq1]

If he has been messing around with all these women and having babies by them there must be a lot of stoked up resentment by the women.

[TWR]

Fire, a new & larger house.

Publicity, as seen, news / papers/ their story,

Motive, money.

Thoughts, the ploy backfired.


Regrets, they have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

[youngmafbog]

If guilty they should be hung. Slowly, no gregory snapping.

[missprim]

I agree with what Mrs O said earlier and I think the police are waiting for someone to come forward that will admit that the Philpotts told them what they planned to do.

[flip_flop]

These people do not strike me as being over encumbered with brains (in fact they look like they've probably not yet mastered the spoon) so I doubt very much they put a great deal of thought into their actions - IF, of course, they are guilty.

Anybody who doesn't have the wit to think that perhaps their breeding was a bit out of control is not going to be turning up on Mastermind anytime soon.

[jake-the-peg]

Just imagine certain people on here had they been an imigrant familly

[Brenden]

No difference JTP if they are guilty - it is still murder.

[DTCwordfan]

one of piece of evidence that will be looked at by the police is the composition of the petrol to any that may be on site with the Philpotts be it for the lawnmower or in their vehicle. Believe it or not each refinery batch shows individual fingerprints so to speak, particularly with micro-organic debris coming from the crude.....certainly can be good supplementary evidence to determine if they did it, if there is a match.

[LochNessMonster]

Mrs O is right again.

[anneasquith]

if and only if, this couple are convicted, surely the verdict of murder would not be upheld, if it was their intention to start a fire rather than kill the children ?

[Baldric]

Ann,
what else would you call it? as parents they must have known where six children of that age group were.

[mike11111]

If they knew that their actions, by setting fire to the house, were likely to cause GBH or worse, then according to law they are guilty of murder. The only way they could get this reduced to manslaughter is by convincing a jury that they honestly believed that there were no children inside.

[anneasquith]

baldric, i agree, but has murder not to be premeditated ? as oppossed to man slaughter ?

[DTCwordfan]

assuming that they did it. ^

[rowanwitch]

I still half hope they didn't....It would just be too awful to contemplate or if it was them it was the result of some sort of mental illness...

[anneasquith]

indeed dt, i did state " if " in my post.

[Mick-Talbot]

mental illness ?
both of them ?

[mike11111]

As I said earlier, if someone dies as a result of an intentional act (setting fire to the house) which is likely to result in GBH or worse to anyone inside, then that is defined as murder. Otherwise nobody would be convicted of murder as they would claim that the intention was not to kill but merely to injure.

[furrypusscat]

I disagree rowanwitch, if they did it I would say nothing short of 'Greed' in a big way.

[rowanwitch]

one mad one weak and followed perhaps... hate to be on a jury for this one