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.

Bloody hell.

Seaofyou

All police interviews will be tape recorded and possibly filmed.

Thanks hive, I just think of that poor man last yr who was charged with murder of that young lady, the police were wrong and his life wrecked I bet!
If these parents have got difficulties I hope they are supported. To lose your children is the worst but then to be accused on top...can't imagine how they must feel if being accused of it if they are innocent.

seaofyou i didn't think that man was charged. Just arrested on suspicion, as in this case?

Interesting to look at how the tabloids are handling this, given the appalling errors in the Joanna Yates case where the rushed to demonise that poor man who was arrested. Think the attorney general has made it clear since then he will crack down on prejudicial reporting. The Sun is giving a straight report, with none of the hyperbole that surrounded the Joanna Yates arrest. So far... let's see what tomorrow morning brings.

The police confirmed the arrests took place at about 10am today, so I doubt there will be anything new to be said for some time yet.

There is nothing on Gods earth that could convince me to set fire to my house with my children inside.

I did say from the start that I thought it would be complicated, I also said I did not for one moment think it was someone pissed off they were on benefits, but I never thought in a month of Sundays it would be the parents, they looked so broken. Time will tell I guess, poor poor children

Sorry yarn that's right but you would think he was the way the papers portrayed the poor man

I know Rabid me too thought it was ex or another family member...but I do think they have arrest the parents to question them, part of course maybe? I hope?

Poor family had media attention in past but this attention:(

Virgil I think that you may be out of date. It's now along the lines of 'if it was bloody obvious that this was a seriously stupidly crazily risky thing to do and any normal person could see the numbers were stacked in favour of a lethal outcome' then you're guilty of murder, not manslaughter.

Indirect intent.

Unless things have changed since I last looked.

Just for a moment during the completely harrowing, and obviously genuine outpouring of the parents grief during the press conference, I did notice the way the superintendent was looking at the father. And I thought for a second "I wonder if it was him.". But, even if it was one of the parents, I believe their grief is totally genuine, and from the beginning I have felt that this fire has had an horrific and unexpected outcome to whoever started it. Just my opinion.

You do not have to be arrested to be formally interviewed (I linked above info on powers of arrest). You can be invited in to help police with their enquiries, or you can be interviewed under caution without arrest.

If arrested, you can be held for 24 hours, extendable to 36 on authorisation of a police Superintendent, and beyond that in stages up to total 96 hours on magistrate's authorisation. This clock started ticking at approx 1000 today.

Yellowtip - Has it. I didn't know that. I know about oblique intent (you put a bomb on a plane to kill the pilot, you are also guilty of murder in respect of the other passengers). By the test I know you'd look at that based on the virtual certainty of the outcome even if the defendant claimed not to 'intend' to hurt them. Not heard of indirect intent. Any idea of the case law so I can pull myself up to date (by about a decade, cough).

I hope it isn't them.

But with all this media attention I think the police must have some information that makes them concerned enough to arrest them. They could have simply questioned them without arrest. The police would get so much backlash from the media if they arrest them and they haven't done it - so there must be real reasons for doing so. Not saying they have done it - just that the police must have some information that points that direction currently.

No we don't know what happened here. The first pair arrested were released without charge. The police are saying it is a complex investigation, and that it may take some time to make all the necessary enquiries. There may be damning evidence, equally there may be someone who comes forward with exonerating evidence.

Demeanour in front of the press is a notoriously bad indicator. Remember the Dingo Baby case?

I thought the whole "demeanour in front of the press" thing would have been put to sleep with the Amanda Knox case.

The Amanda Knox case? Is that all over?

R v Maloney I think OneDay. I have paraphrased mind you and go back more than a decade!

topknob is where loads of people will be right now; utterly tragic.

fwiw i don't think they would have done this - possibly part of a bigger police strategy

Ratbagcatbag has solved the case