Allenton house fire

The Allenton house fire occurred on 11 May 2012 at 18 Victory Road, a semi-detached house in a residential street in Allenton, Derby, Derbyshire, England. Five children died at the scene, while the oldest later died in hospital. The parents of the children, Mairead and Mick Philpott, along with their friend Paul Mosley, were later arrested and charged with murder. In December 2012 their charges were downgraded to manslaughter. On 2 April 2013, Mick Philpott and Paul Mosley were found guilty by unanimous verdicts, while Mairead Philpott was found guilty by majority verdict.

The children were asleep upstairs in the house when the fire began, with their parents downstairs. Their father, Mick Philpott, was reported to have made "valiant" attempts to save them. Jade Philpott (10), John Philpott (9), Jack Philpott (7), Jesse Philpott (6) and Jayden Philpott (5) were all killed in the fire; post-mortem tests revealed the children died of smoke inhalation. Their brother, Duwayne Philpott (13) died in hospital two days later. Two adults suffered minor injuries in the fire, but have not been formally identified.

Police confirmed that the fire was started deliberately, with petrol underneath the letterbox, in an act of arson, stating that "Initial indications are that it was deliberately set and as a result six children have been unlawfully killed."

A church service was held in memory of the children at the Catholic church of St George's in Littleover. A charity, Catch Me When I Fall, was set up by local residents to help the family of the children. A book of condolence at Derby Cathedral was later signed by hundreds of people.

Prior to their deaths Jade, John, Jack, and Jesse attended St George's Catholic Primary School, and Duwayne was a student at Saint Benedict Catholic School.

A 38-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder, but were later released without charge following questioning. Following the release of the pair Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cotterill said that "While I thank those members of the community who have come forward with information I am surprised by how few people have contacted us. Normally in cases of this scale more information is passed to the police...I strongly suspect that there is someone out there in the community who knows more than we are being told."

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Wikipedia