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Original poster

The Philpotts: to think this says a lot about the morality of this country?

153 replies

SlowlyWakingUp · 03/04/2013 00:44

Why was this 'getup' allowed to happen? Everyone knew about it, why was it normalised? It seems to have been all nudge, nudge, wink, wink, that's just 'Mick'. A man with 'needs'. Why were social services not involved? They were all over the TV long before the fire with him being aggressive and f'ing and blinding in front of the DCs on camera, dread to think what he like off camera. I bet he was an absolute bastard.

Why was he allowed to live with children after his earlier conviction for attempted murder and the domestic violence he perpetrated to his 2nd 'wifelet' who left before he got involved with Mairaid? Lisa Willis was their pregnant bridesmaid (with HIS baby) at their wedding. In the TV interview she said she did not 'like the wedding night' because she was 'ready to drop' that brings up all kinds of dreadful connotations. People must have known about this. Did they pat him on the back, turn a blind eye? Why did the neighbours not get involved? The school? Just the overcrowded, chaotic household would surely have been enough to ring alarm bells? When Lisa Willis left him a few months before the fire, she got a restraining order so she must have been alleged DV, why were the DCs left behind not checked up on?

I dread to think of the things they must have seen what with other men coming in to have sex with the 'mother', threesomes, booze and weed, the rocking caravan parked out front. I am sure they were aware of what was going on. How could anyone have thought this was 'OK'.

Why, why, why was this evil sexist pig of a 'man' allowed to carry on doing what he liked without being properly challenged (and I don't mean by JK or Anne Widdecombe)? It was a car crash waiting to happen and no one stepped in, just judged him for being a scumbag, the women for being stupid enough to accept it, without taking into account the most important factor, those poor DCs.

I KNOW ultimately the 3 who were found guilty today we were responsible but what about the responsibility of the community and the government agencies to say 'hey, you cannot bring children up in that environment'. Not just to turn a blind eye until an absolute tragedy like this happens. Sorry, it just sickens me that this went on and that similar scenarios are being played out everyday all over the UK.

OP posts:
Lovelygoldboots · 03/04/2013 08:53

The people of Allenton raised £19k for the childrens funerals. And Philpot wanted the change in Argos vouchers. He is an aggressive man with a veneer of charm. A classic abuser. This has nothing to do with morality. A community came together for that family and those poor children.

WestieMamma · 03/04/2013 08:55

I think it does say a lot about the morality of the country. It says that if you commit a despicable crime, you will be found out, you will be brought to justice, you will be given a fair trial, and when you are lawfully convicted you will be locked away for a long time (hopefully).

Al0uise · 03/04/2013 08:58

Hopefully the benefits cap will prevent people like the the Philpotts producing children as income guarantees. The children were not well fed, clothed or loved.

I hope they cost us less while they're imprisoned than they did on the outside. In fact I rather hope that the prisoners who are inside for trying to provide for their families decide to provide some extra justice to the Philpotts sentences.

navada · 03/04/2013 09:00

They'd be people tut tutting at the whole situation whilst simultaniously texting their lover behind their partners back. There's immorality at every level in society, it's just being played out in different ways.

& I agree with pansy.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 03/04/2013 09:07

They represent an underclass of people with extremely disordered lives and generations of abuse. They have existed forever.

TheFallenNinja · 03/04/2013 09:15

It says a lot about the morality of two individuals, equally guilty.

It says nothing about my morality.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 03/04/2013 09:19

But i also agree with AThingInYourLIfe. It would be a great shame if the salacious aspects of this case enabled us to dissociate this case from ourselves and discount to fact that abuse takes place in all sorts of families.

Tommy · 03/04/2013 09:24

one of the things I noticed about the TV programme was how highly the children's teachers spoke of them. Maybe the women in the family were actually doing their best by their children - hence SSs not necessarily being as involved as "some people" thought they should have been.

TheOrchardKeeper · 03/04/2013 09:28

STOP

SLAGGING

OFF

SOCIAL

WORKERS

(When you know fuck all about it & are regurgitating some BS from the daily mail etc etc).

I would love to see some of the people on here, whose feathers are so easily ruffled, cope with such a large, disturbing caseload.

A few years back this lovely government cut loads of SW jobs and just put that extra caseload onto the leftover SWs & now encourage SW bashing whenever possible so people don't see it was really their doing & SW are just scapegoats.

Unfortunately, this lack of resources means that unless children are being badly neglected or abused (and it can be reliably proved) they just have a close eye kept on them.

Also, this has fuck all to do with the state of the country and is certainly not commonplace. This man was an abusive twunt of the highest order and men like that know that getting women pregnant is the best way to trap them.

TheOrchardKeeper · 03/04/2013 09:29

^ also, no one seems to have realized that yes the women may go along with it but that doesn't mean they're not victims. Things are not that black and white in real life.

yousankmybattleship · 03/04/2013 09:30

I think that raving on an anonymous chat board about something you probably only have knowledge of from reading the tabloids instead of getting off your arse and actually doing something for someone in your own community says a lot about the morality of people in this country.

TheRealFellatio · 03/04/2013 09:33

Why are you laying all the blame at his feet OP? I don't deny he sounds like a right piece of work, but I hate this assumption that every woman in his life must somehow be an innocent, naive. blameless victim. It's a get of of jail free card for a handful of revolting women who were no better than him in my book.

TheOrchardKeeper · 03/04/2013 09:38

^ I do doubt his current wife was blameless but it would appear that a few from his past were just unfortunate in meeting the bloke & getting involved.

Though she's paying the price now anyway. She's not severely mentally ill so she's got to knowingly live with the outcome for the rest of her life.

Corygal · 03/04/2013 09:39

Does anyone think Philpott meant to kill the children? His behaviour after the deaths - comedy gurning, laughing, not bothering to see the only living child in hosp. - was the clincher for the police to launch the multiple murder investigation.

We're all told the fire went wrong and that he meant to rescue them, but he didn't try and neither did the wife. Neighbours did, tho. He lied to 999 services, too, about where the children were. I don't think she meant to kill them, but it strikes me he had a motive.

Philpott was bored of Maireadd and wanted Lisa back. The two women were fed up of the overcrowding...

auforfoulkesake · 03/04/2013 09:41

giving them a bigger house, eliminating the over crowding - would not have made any difference to his character.
I am sure the school teachers are doing some soul searching now however on panorama they denied any concerns.
could his wives been forced to leave him?
would he have allowed any social services input?

it is unusual for police to bug people as they bugged these three, thus their story was found out.

diddl · 03/04/2013 09:42

I doubt he meant to kill them as they were his Income, weren't they?

Plus none of his other children lived with him, did they?

TheOrchardKeeper · 03/04/2013 09:43

Going by everything that was said in the less sensationalized articles, I just don't think he cared & maybe he did have an ulterior motive but either way, he knew the risk & thought very little of it.

auforfoulkesake · 03/04/2013 09:45

he wanted his children with lisa back, they were due in court that day in a custody battle. hence the fire to frame her and win the battle.

Nancy66 · 03/04/2013 09:49

I don't think he meant to kill them but their deaths appeared to cause him little anguish

JakeBullet · 03/04/2013 09:49

Social workers have their hands tied....end of. The photographs of the children show clean, appropriately dressed and well fed children. No matter what the activities of their parents they looked well cared for. It is hard to get evidence of the types of activities the Philpotts were involved in without covert surveillance.....and no court is going to allow that unless....as in this case.....a major incident/crime has taken place.

There were a lot of children...so what? I have seen two families like this, one on benefits, one not and in neither case did the schools raise any concerns. I haven't read the papers so don't know if this was the case here or not. Fact is that a social worker going in blind is just going to see a Dad who procreates and two mothers...nobody working and children who appear to be well cared for. Good luck trying to get a court to agree they need to be removed....despite his previous conviction because unless he has continued convictions then there is no evidence he poses and continued risk to his partners or their children.

So OP, what are YOU doing in YOUR community for the Philpott children of this world? I am volunteering as a parent supporter, by supporting parents I hope I am improving their lives and those of their children...and they are not all like the Philpotts...who are very rare despite what the DM would have us believe but many children need support out there and working with parents is good place to start

specialsubject · 03/04/2013 09:51

Mairead Philpott's family said they asked her to leave, over and over, and wanted to help. She had somewhere to go. She didn't.

Lisa Willis knew how to get an injunction to keep him away.

help was there, but refused.

well done to the police for tying up this case - I also thought that the performance at the press conference by the Philpotts was a sham, but it is not easy to prove it except by good police work. He will breed no more and kill no more.

auforfoulkesake · 03/04/2013 09:53

I don't spose he will be in jail for that long in reality.
don't count on him not breeding or killing any more

OhLori · 03/04/2013 09:53

I think it does say something about the abuse of the welfare system. The State was financing his "lifestyle" and children were carelessly produced as a result.

BooCanary · 03/04/2013 09:55

I think the 'encouragement' of his behaviour by journalists before and after the fire is a sad indictment of our voyeuristic society.

Similar to the Shannon Matthews case in that these twisted people sacrifice their children for a moment of fame/limelight.

We all need to look at the part we play in a society where fame ( infamy) is so all important that some sick people will go to any lengths to achieve it.

Nancy66 · 03/04/2013 10:03

In both cases the behaviour and lifestyle was firmly established long before any media involvement.