'I didn't mean to do it': Father accused of killing six of his children in a house fire 'made remark to his wife' as they were being secretly recorded in a prison van

A father accused of killing six of his children in a house fire was taped allegedly saying 'they have nothing on me' and 'I didn't mean to do it' in covert recordings made in a prison van, a court heard today.
The secret tape of Michael Philpott speaking to partner Mairead about the blaze last year was played to the jury, but has been disputed by his legal team who say the audio is too unclear to tell what he said.
Mick and Mairead Philpott were recorded as they spoke in the vehicle taking them to Derby Magistrates' Court on May 31 last year.
The jury also heard an eight minute 999 call the Philpotts made when the fire started in their Derby house and their six children were trapped inside. Scroll down for the audio. 
Mick and Mairead are both heard screaming and crying uncontrollably in their back garden while the operator tries desperately to calm them down.
'Please mate,  I can't get in the house, my babies are upstairs,' Mr Philpott yells, before repeating three times: 'There is no noise from my children'.
Mrs Philpott also describes how her husband smashed a window but cannot get in the property.
Nottingham Crown Court heard today the couple were being monitored 24 hours a day by Serious and Organised Crime detectives.
They, along with a third defendant, Paul Mosley, are accused of the manslaughter of the Philpotts' six young children in the fatal fire in Allenton, Derby, on May 11 last year. The couple were arrested on May 29.

In the prison van on May 31, the prosecution claim that Philpott is heard asking his wife: 'Are we sticking to the story?'
Mairead replies: 'Hmmm.' Mick whispers: 'Good.'
it was said he then asks her: 'Do you know something? Have they got any evidence on you? They've got nothing on me, nothing.'
Mairead is heard to say: 'There's a fingerprint on the window.'

Deadly blaze: Philpott surrounded by the six children whose lives were claimed by the fatal house fire last May

Mick replies: 'That's it. A few discrepancies, that's all it is. One with Shakey (Paul Mosley) about I said I was going out for a drive at night. I can't remember saying that, Vicky said you were stoned and I said we didn't smoke.'
He is then heard to say to his wife: 'I love you so much. Look at me. We will walk free and prove our innocence, right? And then we'll sort them out, promise you.'

Scene: Flowers are left outside the house where the children died in the fire

Mrs Philpott replies: 'Yeah, like I said, we can't even bury the kids.'
Philpott says again that 'they've got nothing' on him.
He is heard saying: 'Mick, my brief, said that for the judge to do what he's doing he's got to have some big balls because there's no evidence, they've got nothing, there's no, no petrol on me, on me trousers, no glass, you know the fireman said he put the window through.'
Mrs Philpott replies: 'I know.'
Philpott says: 'I said he f****** didn't, I did.'
His wife replies: 'Both of 'em and that front room window was open.'
Philpott says: 'Yeah, I can't understand that.' His wife agrees and says: 'No, I can't.'
Philpott then says: 'I said I was told by Jenny that the police had opened it.' He adds: 'No, we've got nothing to worry, just stick, just stick by what we've said.'
A few minutes later he asks his wife: 'You definitely sticking with the story?'
A second comment: 'I didn't mean to do it, on my life', has been disputed by the defence.
During the ten-minute conversation, Philpott is also heard to say 'they tried to blame me'. His wife says: 'I know.'
She adds: 'They said 'Did you pour the petrol there?', cause they said summat about erm... expert thingy.'
Philpott replies: 'Load of bu****it.'
His wife is heard to say: 'That's why the thingy said just no comment.'
Her husband replies: 'Yeah, that's right, don't say nothing now, don't say nothing.'
Philpott asks his wife: 'What did you say? You didn't do it?'

Accused: Mick Philpott, pictured with Mairead Philpott and another woman, is alleged to have 'gone on' about wanting a bigger house, the court heard yesterday

He then says: 'Don't you worry, we'll walk through it, I promise you that. Unless you want me to blab about it?'
His wife replies: 'No.' Philpott then says: 'It's your decision.'
Martin Barry, a forensics speech analyst called by the defence, said he had listened to the disputed recording 'several thousand times'.
The prosecution allege Philpott can be heard to say: 'You definitely sticking with the story? I didn't mean to do it, on my life.'
Mr Barry agreed the comments 'definitely sticking with the story' and 'on my life' could be heard, but disputed the words 'You' and 'I didn't mean to do it'.
The expert told the court the comments were 'unclear' and 'obscured' by the noise of the van.

Covert: A prison van carrying Michael and Mairead Philpott (pictured) contained recording equipment but the defence say their voices were muffled by the sound of the engine

Audio: The Jury also heard a tape of a desperate 999 call made by the couple during the fire that claimed the lives of six children upstairs

A written statement was read to the jury from Detective Constable Baldish Chauhal, who attended Birmingham Children’s Hospital with the Philpotts to see their eldest son on May 12.
Duwayne was transferred to the hospital from Derby Royal Hospital following the fire and was fighting for his life on the intensive care unit, the court has heard.
In her statement, Det Con Chauhal said Philpott rushed out of the intensive care unit when the doctor told him the 13-year-old’s chances of survival were small.
Minutes later, Philpott was seen on the floor surrounded by family and friends.
In her statement Det Con Chauhal said: 'There was a commotion near the stairwell and someone saying Mick had fallen down the stairs.
'Mick was on the floor surrounded by family members and friends.'
She said Philpott indicated that he had hit his head on the floor after fainting and was taken for treatment.

Det Con Chauhal also said Philpott fainted following a press conference held for the media on May 16.

Evidence: Police revealed that when Mr Philpott visited his son Duwayne in Birmingham Children's Hospital he collapsed when he heard he might not survive

Fall: Philpott, pictured with his wife Mairead, also passed out after a press conference in Derby (pictured)

The jury was for the first time shown clips from the press conference, which was held by the couple five days after the blaze.
During the conference, led by Derbyshire Police, the couple thanked friends and emergency services staff for their attempts to rescue their six children.
Det Con Chauhal said in her statement that during a conversation before the conference, Philpott told her how he sang Elvis songs in his spare time and DJed.
She said he then grabbed a tissue out of her hand saying 'I need a tissue' before going into the room for the conference, the court heard.
The detective then described how Philpott fell to the floor in the corridor following the press conference and laid in the recovery position.
'After 10 seconds he opened his eyes and got up,' Det Con Chauhal said in her statement.
The court also heard the 999 call, which the Philpotts made to emergency services, for a second time.

THE PHILPOTTS' 999 CALL

Extracts from the eight minute long call to the emergency services made by Mairead and Michael Philpott on the night of the fire.

Operator: Emergency, which service?
Mairead: Hello
Operator: Do you need Fire Police of Ambulance?
Mairead: All three please, my kids are in the bedroom, me house is on fire.
-
Operator: Right. Where are the kids? Do you know?
Mairead: They're upstairs in three bedrooms
Operator: They're upstairs in their bedrooms. Where's the fire?
Mairead: Here. It's - I don't know. It's at the front of the house somewhere.
Operator: It's at the front of the house somewhere.
Mairead: Yeah.
Operator: Can you hear, are there any flames there?
Michael: Smoke's everywhere.
Mairead: Oh my god please.
-
Operator: Talk to me.
Michael: I can't get in the bedroom mate.
Operator: Yeah.
Michael: I can't get in me bedroom and the kids are all upstairs six of 'em.
Operator: Is it a terraced house?
Michael: Please.
Operator: Er, yeah we've got some, we've got the police on their way, have you any idea what caused the fire?
Michael: I've no idea, we've just been woken up by the alarm. There's smoke everywhere.
Operator: There's smoke everywhere.
Mairead: The electric's gone.
Michael: Me electrics gone and all my babies are all upstairs.
Operator: You're alright, you're in the garden are you?
Michael: I'm round the back mate. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't get out.
Operator: Ok, what's your name please?
Michael: Michael, I'm the, the daddy.
Operator: Ok.
Michael: I can't get in.
-
Operator: Can, can you go through your neighbour's property and speak to our Police Officer out there?
Michael: I've got a ladder 'ere mate and I've smashed the window. I can't, I can't get in. There's no noise from my children. There's no noise from my children. There's no noise from my children.

Philpott, Mairead, and family friend Mosley, 46, are accused of starting the fire in a botched bid to frame Philpott's ex lover, Lisa Willis.
The trial has heard how Philpott, his wife, and 11 children lived together in a cramped council semi in Allenton, Derby, with Philpott's former lover Lisa Willis, 29.
But after Miss Willis walked out of the bizarre set up taking her five children - four of which were fathered by Philpott - with her, a bitter custody battle broke out.
Prosecutors say Philpott masterminded the fire, on May 11 last year, as part of a plan to set up Miss Willis and win residency of the young siblings.
But jurors have been told the plot went 'horribly wrong' - and resulted in the deaths of the six youngsters who remained with Philpott and Mairead, 31.
Yesterday their trial heard the trio also took part in a 'rehearsal' of the fatal blaze weeks before tragedy struck.
They are alleged to have acted out how they would save the youngsters from the property once the fire took hold.
The jury of five women and seven men was also told that Mosley said Philpott had been 'going on about wanting a bigger house'.
Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five - all died as a result of smoke inhalation.
Philpott, Mairead, and Mosley, all of Derby, deny six counts of manslaughter.
The trial continues.

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