'House of horrors' where six Philpott children died to be knocked down by council to help community move on

The 'house of horrors' where the six Philpott children died will be demolished in a bid to help the local community put the tragedy behind them.
Derby City Council wants to bulldoze 18 Victory Road in Allenton which was set ablaze by their evil parents Mick and Mairead amid calls for a memorial garden to be built in its place.
The house has stood empty and boarded up since the fire which killed Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five.

Horrific reminder: Number 18 Victory Road in Allenton has been empty since the tragedy last May

Painful: The leader of Derby Council said no one is going to want to live in the house where six young children died

Extended family: Mick Philpott, wife Mairead, his mother Peggy and sons Jesse and (far right) John, who died in the fire

Council leader Paul Bayliss, told the Sunday Express: 'Who would want to live in a house where six children have died and why would you want to live next door to where six children have died?

'It is the council's intention to bulldoze the properties but we need to to go through a number of legal loopholes first.
The Philpotts are still official tenants of Number 18 and it could take the council several months to gain legal possession.
The adjoining property number 20 was owned by an elderly couple who agreed to sell to the council after they found a bungalow to move to, but both both died before the move went through.
However it is understood the executors are willing to complete the deal.
An online petition for the house to be demolished and replaced with a memorial garden is gathering momentum.
Organiser Jake Vernon, 22, told the Sunday Express: 'It's not pleasant to have the house standing as a reminder of the nightmare that happened that night'.
Mick Philpott's mother Peggy has insisted she still loves him - and condemned the country for focusing on his uncoventional lifestyle.
Peggy Philpott has watched her family be ripped apart by her son who killed six of his children in a fire he started in their home in Derby.
The 86-year-old grandmother paid a heartfelt tribute to the youngsters just days after Mick was jailed for life for life - but slammed the media for focusing on his sex life and drug-taking.
Peggy said: 'It has all been about the sex, sex, sex and not enough about those poor children who died. They were lovely children and I loved them all so much.'
Philpott was branded a 'disturbingly dangerous man with no moral compass' as he was sentenced for the manslaughter of his children alongside his wife Mairead and friend Paul Mosley.
Today a minute's silence will be held in memory of the six children before Derby County's match against Ipswich Town.
Jade Louise Phillpot, 10, and her brothers Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died from the effects of smoke inhalation following the blaze started by Philpott in the early hours of May 11 last year.

Killer: Mick Philpott and his wife Mairead speak at a press conference after the fatal house fire he started in his home. Detectives became suspicious because of his unusual behaviour in the days after the deaths

Football fan Duwayne had the emblem of Derby County etched on to his coffin and reportedly held a season ticket at the club along with his younger brother John.
Peggy, a mother-of-eight, said she felt her grandchildren were being ignored and the coverage was focusing on her son.
The pensioner said she had yet to receive a phone call from Mick but is looking forward to going to visit him behind bars.
She added that she was standing by her son despite his convictions.
'I will go and see him, he is my son, my own flesh and blood and I love him. He is part of my family,' she added.

 

LIFE imprisonment. See Mick Philpott's television appearances

Gutted: The family home in Victory Road, Derby, where the killer blaze happened. The childrens' grandmother Peggy lives less than half a mile away

Peggy keeps a framed picture of the children on her mantelpiece and said she is constantly thinking about them.
Peggy cried as she recalled how Jade Louise would comb her hair for her and say she was 'making her look beautiful'.
She remembered how Jayden lovingly share his chocolate with her while his brother Jack was known to be a 'loveable little terror'.
Peggy added: 'Duwayne was always so pleased to see me when I went round to the house. John was the quiet, lovely lad.

Young lives destroyed: (top row) Duwayne, 13, Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, (lower row) Jack, eight, Jayden, five and Jesse, six

Killed by their own parents: Six wooden crosses mark the graves of the Philpott children

'Jack was a little terror who used to have play fights with me, giving me little punches.
'Jade Louise was the princess, she would comb my hair for me and say "grandma I am making you beautiful". And Jayden was the baby of the family.
'I would go round every Sunday for a roast dinner and Michael would go and buy everyone chocolate bars for 50p for us all after we had eaten.
'Jayden would slip me his chocolate and say "go on Grandma, you can have mine".'
Philpott was jailed for life at Nottingham Crown Court with a minimum term of 15 years.

Grief: Six tiny coffins are carried into St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Derby as a community mourns for the dead children

His wife Mairead and friend Mosley were both given 17 years after being found guilty of the same charges following a seven-week trial.
Peggy lives less than half a mile from the family home in Victory Road, Derby, where smoke suffocated her six children. She said the past year had been awful.
She added: 'It has been bad, really bad. I hardly go out any more. I don't even go upstairs in my own home, I just stay downstairs and sleep there.
'Michael loved his children dearly and I still think this was just an accident.
'If he did do it then he should be punished but I really don't think he did, he loved those children too much.'

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