Philpott fire house reduced to rubble by demolition workers

Work to pull down the fire-damaged semi-detached house in Victory Road, Derby, began just after 8am yesterday with the final smoke-blackened wall demolished by mid-afternoon.

Clearing the remaining rubble and flattening the site is expected to take several more days. Social housing is expected to be built on the site.

Mick and Mairead Philpott were jailed in April, along with their friend Paul Mosley, after being convicted of killing the couple’s six children in the petrol-fuelled blaze in Allenton.

Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, died in the blaze in May 2012. Duwayne, 13, died days later in hospital.

Evidence of the intense black smoke thrown off by the fire became apparent as more of the house’s innards were exposed during the work.

In one of the outbuildings a full-size snooker table was uncovered with the balls still set up, ready to play. It will be sent to landfill along with all the other rubble.

Among those watching the digger pull the property apart was 65-year-old Peggy Perry-Tarrant, whose mother and father lived in the house years before the Philpotts.

“There’s so many good memories there for our family, and it’s ended in such a bad way,” she said. “We all think it’s the right thing to do to take it down and when we walk on by we’ll remember those kids and what happened there, and they’ll never be forgotten.”

A close neighbour, who declined to be named, said: “I’ll be glad when it’s gone because it’s gone on so long. I knew the children, you see. It’s become a monument for the wrong reasons.”

Work to secure the property and a neighbouring home began behind hoardings last week.

The firms involved – Derby Demolition Ltd, John L Morgan & Sons, Maxplant Ltd and Ward Recycling – have each agreed to donate their fee for the demolition work to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre in Skegness, which provides disadvantaged local children with holidays in the Lincolnshire resort.