House fire parents on murder charge

The parents of six children killed in a house fire are due back in court charged with their murder.

Mick Philpott, 55, and his wife Mairead, 31, will appear at Nottingham Crown Court charged with murder following the blaze at the house on Victory Road in Allenton, Derby, on May 11.

Jade Philpott, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jessie, six and Jayden, five, all died in the fire. Duwayne, 13, died in Birmingham Children's Hospital two days later.

Mr and Mrs Philpott will not be attending the funeral service for the six children to be held on Friday in Derby, church officials have said.

In a statement issued to local media, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham confirmed the funeral service would be followed by burials at Derby's Nottingham Road Cemetery.

Father Alan Burbidge, the family priest who will be conducting the service, said the funeral will take place at St Mary's Catholic Church at 11am.

"The family have chosen that church as a venue because they are Catholic children and they wanted a full Requiem Mass in a Catholic church," he added.

The Prison Service has not confirmed whether Mr and Mrs Philpott applied for leave to attend the funeral but said a risk assessment would be carried out if an application was made.

A spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on the movements of individual prisoners. Prisoners can apply for escorted visits to attend the funeral of a close relative, but it will always be subject to a strict risk assessment."

Mr and Mrs Philpott, who are in custody, will appear for a preliminary hearing at Nottingham Crown Court later today.