Anybody else watching this?

thorsoak

Those poor children But at least they did have lives full of love - however misguided - and were reported to be well-mannered "nice" children.

Had they lived - how would their lives have turned out? Looking up to a father such as that man, could they be expeced to have grown up into good citizens? Living in a home where a man dominated not one but two women, who regularly smoked marijuana and who drank alcohol, who rarely if ever washed and changed his clothes - what sort of role model would he have been to those boys? And what sort of person would his daughter have grown into?

FatVonD

I think at least some of them would have seen the light, either way they all deserved the chance.

thorsoak

FatVonD wrote: »

I think at least some of them would have seen the light, either way they all deserved the chance.

I would certainly hope so too - but poor little souls didn't even get the chance.

sassyblue

gravitytolls wrote: »

It probably goes against the grain, but I feel really sorry for MAiread. I fear she submitted to Mick in everything, hence the sexual depravity and putting up with the mistress being shipped in. It was stated that she cared for all the children while he treated the mistress 'like a queen'.

Anyhoo, I feel for her, she lost her entire family through one man's utter selfishness, and after so many years of subjugating herself, I doubt she even questioned anything he said.

I feel confused because l also feel sorry for her (stupidly!) because had it not been for Philpott, l'm sure she'd have never done that. He was the ringleader in everything and was controlling to his kids, his partners. Vile character.

Cooper18 wrote: »

Feeling the way I do, and admitting my ignorance, I think Mairead deserves to rot every bit as much as Mick. She stood by and let this happen and/or she was involved up to her armpits. Wasn't petrol found on her clothes? She let her babies burn. Children she had carried, felt moving inside her for months.

And yet, she was a mother - what was she thinking?

Neither of them are very clever, that ladder he put up the back of the house, how on earth was he going to be able to get inside the house, he'd have fallen through the conservatory roof.

I just can't get my head round it all, poor, poor children.

Janepig

Ballabriggs wrote: »

I sat there watching the Channel 5 and BBC 1 reports on this last night and my mouth was justing hanging open. Sickening. In some ways their relationship reminded me of fred and rose west, in terms of the sexual behaviour. Clearly there were extremely different patterns of behaviour between the two cases but the controlling/co-dependancy was eerily similar.

I do not feel sorry for the wife in anyway. She had a family support network, her sisters attempted to get her out of the situation and she refused. They even went round when mick was away and she refused. But notwithstanding this, the eldest boy's aunt said how when she took him out for something to eat it was very clear he hadn't been properly fed in ages, heartbreaking. The way those kids lived was child abuse plain and simple, and the wife was key in allowing it to happen.

Where was the social services in all this? I don't want to jump on the bandwagon of blame the govt. but given that at one point there were 11 kids, two women and mick living in the house and they were going on national tv bragging about it, surely it must have raised some alarm bells. Plus what about his criminal record of violence against women and when lisa left and the custody case that ensued, surely CPS must have been notified?

A lot of questions unanswered to my mind.

Any ideas on how long he can get for manslaughter?

I agree with this - I had some sympathy for Mairaed until I saw that Panorama programme last night where it appears that she has a stable family and a good support network, including her two sisters who seemed to be decent people. What resonated with me was what one of her sisters said about Mairaed's behaviour following the death of her children, that she would struggle to get up in the morning, let alone anything else. Albeit Manslaughter would seem to be the right charge, I would imagine that they would be all the more distraught at the outcome in that case.

I believe the judge has the full range of sentences to be used today, from life down to a community order. Realistically can anything other than life be given?

Jx

motherofstudents

There were 3 similar programmes on last night, channel 5, itv and bbc 1. I thought the news conference was like he was at the Oscars, thanking everyone but never once did he ask for help to find out who did it. I really think he thought that he would get them out of the fire but unfortunately I think he was thinking of himself and not them. He would be hailed as a hero.

It will be interesting to see the sentence. I think a life sentence possibly but what is that ? Ten years maybe ?

marisco_2

thorsoak wrote: »

Had they lived - how would their lives have turned out? Looking up to a father such as that man, could they be expeced to have grown up into good citizens? Living in a home where a man dominated not one but two women, who regularly smoked marijuana and who drank alcohol, who rarely if ever washed and changed his clothes - what sort of role model would he have been to those boys? And what sort of person would his daughter have grown into?

I agree with all you say. They were certainly being raised in a way that would have led to them being dysfunctional adults with no concept of a happy, normal family life. The likelihood of them being able to conduct positive, healthy relationships with others was very low.

I wish they had been given the chance to grow up though, maybe work out that the way they lived their lives was not the norm and that they could go into the world and carve out a happy and succesful future. Their parents actions have robbed them of all that.

Yet today the court in Nottingham is being told that their parents loved them! God give me strength, which gullible person can allow those words to come out their mouth

BugglyB

Just a personal feeling but I wish commentators would stop saying that the children are 'in a better place now'. They're not, they're dead.

JoW123

I live in the Derby area and have colleagues who live near to the Philpotts and whose children attend the school that the eldest son attended. As you can imagine the entire neighbourhood has been devastated by the events of that night and due to the publicity a lot of lives have been affected by the media interest. There is utter disbelief that anyone could stoop so low as to endanger their own children in such a way. The only decent thing in the whole awful tale is that the children were given dignified and decent burials due to the kindness of donations from both local people and further afield. The local community pulled together in a way that should be commended and is heartening to see when such a dreadful tragedy happens. Many lives will never be the same again as a result of their actions and I hope they get the sentences they deserve.

BugglyB

Janepig wrote: »

I agree with this - I had some sympathy for Mairaed until I saw that Panorama programme last night where it appears that she has a stable family and a good support network, including her two sisters who seemed to be decent people. What resonated with me was what one of her sisters said about Mairaed's behaviour following the death of her children, that she would struggle to get up in the morning, let alone anything else. Albeit Manslaughter would seem to be the right charge, I would imagine that they would be all the more distraught at the outcome in that case.

I believe the judge has the full range of sentences to be used today, from life down to a community order. Realistically can anything other than life be given?

Jx

I'm not talking specifically about this case, but many many victims of serious domestic violence have loving families and colleagues and friends who are desperate to help them.

The first thing a man like Mick Philpott will do when he gets a new girlfriend is subtly undermine those relationships and isolate her. It will start with 'I have tried to be nice but your sisters just don't like me' and end up being 'if you speak to them again I'll kill you'.