'I was basically his housemaid': Wife accused of killing six of her children in fire told police of her life of drudgery with husband

A wife accused of killing six of her children in a fire planned with her husband told police she was 'basically his housemaid', a court heard today.
Mairead Philpott was questioned by police after she and husband Mick were arrested on suspicion of starting the fatal fire at their three-bedroom house in Allenton, Derby, last May.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how Mrs Philpott, 31, believed her husband, 56, preferred his mistress Lisa Willis - who lived under the same roof as the pair - to her.

Mairead Philpott, pictured with husband Mick, told detectives she was 'basically his housemaid' and that he preferred his mistress Lisa Willis, who shared a house with the couple

She said initially she and Ms Willis shared the housework but said that in the past three or four years she had 'done everything'.
Mrs Philpott told Sergeant Joanne James, of Derbyshire Police, in an interview 18 days after the fire that she was overlooked by her husband, who favoured Ms Willis.

The court heard that Mrs Philpott said: 'Lisa was just there for herself.
'For some reason they (Philpott and Ms Willis) just got so close. He would take Lisa everywhere with him, and it would only be me and him on the odd occasion.
'For the first few years, me and Lisa did the housework together. We were like sisters.
'But for the last three or four years I have done everything. I was basically a housemaid.
'I was upset, but I did not question it. I thought "I am happy here at home with the kids".'
Six siblings died as a result of the fire on May 11 - Jade, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, died during the blaze.

Six children, aged between five and 13, died in the blaze at the house in Allenton, Derby, last May

Their brother Duwayne, 13, was taken to Derby Royal Hospital and transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, but died three days later.
Their parents, Mick and Mairead Philpott, and a third defendant, Paul Mosley, 46, are on trial over the deaths of the children. They have each denied six counts of manslaughter.

Mairead Philpott told detectives she and Lisa Willis were once like 'sisters'

The prosecution claim the children’s deaths were the result of a botched 'plan' to frame 56-year-old Philpott’s former mistress, Lisa Willis.
Jurors at the trial were also told that Mr Philpott repeatedly asked his wife for a divorce so he could marry Ms Willis but wanted her to remain living at the same house together.
In her interviews with detectives, Mrs Philpott denied any involvement in starting the blaze, and said she did not know who was responsible.
She claimed she and her husband were woken by a smoke alarm and made their way from the conservatory where they slept into a lounge at the front of the house.
But Mrs Philpott said the couple then heard a 'popping' sound before huge flames tore into the lounge from the hallway area.
She told officers they escaped out of the back of the house, where Mr Philpott tried to rescue his children from their upstairs bedrooms using a ladder while she 'screamed hysterically in the garden'.
She said she was taken into a neighbour's house, adding: 'It felt like forever. Mick was there, he was crying saying he had seen the kids being brought out.
'I was saying "I want my babies", but I did not see them being bought out of the house.'
She was then asked by Sgt James: 'What are your thoughts about how this fire started?'
Mrs Philpott replied: 'I don't know.'
The trial continues.

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