Father and Mother of 6 children killed in fire are arrested over Murder

[marriedtoagoodun]

Breaking news is that Mr and Mrs Philpott have been arrested for the murder of their six children. I cannot believe this has happened. I pray that a mistake has been made. RIP children.

On the TV report this evening they were keen to point out that the couple themselves had requested a press conference to thank the people who had tried to help save the children, and for the support of the local community. I thought it was a slightly odd bit of reporting but I am aware that the police do try to encourage possible suspects to speak publicly as much as possible to analyse their behaviour. It was almost as if they were pointing out that it was not for that reason that the press conference was held.

Personally I cannot imagine being in any fit state to do a press conference if all my children had just died - I am always amazed that anyone can do these things.

You can be interviewed by police without being arrested but you are told that ' you are free to leave at anytime ' you are still entitled to lega advice etc but police need a lot more consent of the suspect to do things.

Actually arresting someone gives police more powers to do search and seize property. With a serious crime like this then obviously this the best route - it's not done on a whim

Surely if they wanted to formally interview them, they wouldn't arrest them on suspicion of murder though? Perverting the course of justice or some lesser crime, surely?

Sorry, I meant to say "Surely if they just wanted to formally interview them"

"perverting the course of justice" is not a lesser crime, much the opposite.

"Seems to me that in the UK there ought to be some other mechanism whereby poeple can be interviewed formally without being 'arrested'"

There is.

What you are arrested for can bear no resemblance to what you are actually charged with - so aslong as the police have reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime then they can arrest. As said it was not done on a whim and they would have taken advice form CPS.

The police behaviour seems odd..... Mobilepolice station brought in and house cordoned off again. And the language used. Persuasive and tempting Joe public in to tell all. Something about 'if you were afraid to come forward before'

Sounds like the police need that last tiny piece of the puzzle

"Seems to me that in the UK there ought to be some other mechanism whereby poeple can be interviewed formally without being 'arrested'"

There is, people can be interviewed under caution. The Police don't arrest people on a whim, however I refuse to speculate on this tragic tragic case.

Sorry, I may have worded that wrong. Arresting them on suspicion of murder can appear to the public like the police have reasonable proof that they were acting in a way which they knew would kill / arresting on suspicion of perverting the course of justice can appear to the public that the police have reason to believe they were involved in it whether accident or not.

Just my opinion.

Just feel so sad for the children who are still alive. How must they all be coping in this sad situation.

I sincerely hope those poor children wernt killed by their own parents. Sometimes people can be arrested for their own safety if they discover who really was responsible for a crime. That way the police can interview them again and then the real culprit is lulled into a false sense of security thinking that they have got away with it.
Im NOT saying that this is the case. Im saying it is a small tiny possibility.

Good point lagoon i agree.

It's impossible to know what's going on at the moment, it's not right to say that the parents were responsible for this though.

They've already been told that it's impossible, Nancy. I live in Derby, there are no larger houses. This is old news.

LadySybil - we're not dealing with MENSA members here.

They are presumed innocent until found guilty, MrsGuy

Murder involves intent. Intent is an essential element of murder. Otherwise the charge is manslaughter.

Yes, that was my point on charging them with something lesser. If it's suspicion of murder, the police suspect they actually meant to kill

Virgil - yes, you're right of course.

Guess we'll have to wait and see if there's a chage coming.

Virgil - Actually you don't need to have intent to kill to be charged with murder (so long as the law hasn't changed markedly since my law degree in 2000). You can have intention to cause grievous bodily harm, which can include any serious harm such as a broken bone. So you could stab someone in the leg only ever intending to stab them and not ever imagining that they die (IYSWIM), but if they then die it is murder and not manslaughter.

gnocchi this is an interesting point. As a layperson, I always assumed that a 'murder' charge implied an intent, or at least a reasonable expectation that the action undertaken would lead to a death, or deaths. If someone hypothetically starts a fire, in a house wth people asleep in it, but intends to heroically rescue them before they suffer injury or death, would that qualify as murder, in the event that recsue proved impossible and death ensued?