Police make new arrest over Derby house fire which claimed lives of six children

 
Mick Philpott and wife Mairead
20 June 2012

Detectives investigating the deaths of six siblings in a house fire have made a third arrest.

Derbyshire Police said a 45-year-old man was arrested in Derby today in connection with the deaths of Jade Philpott and her brothers John, Jack, Jesse, Jayden, and Duwayne.

The children's parents, Mick and Mairead Philpott, have been charged with their murders.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire Police said the 45-year-old is being held by officers for questioning.

The latest arrest comes just two days after Mick Philpott, 55, and his 31-year-old wife appeared in court where a date was set for them to stand trial for the murders of their children.

The couple are charged with murder following a blaze at their home in Victory Road in Allenton, Derby, on May 11.

Jade, 10, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, all died in the fire. Duwayne, 13, died in Birmingham Children's Hospital two days later.

Their funerals are set to take place in Derby on Friday but church officials have confirmed that Mr and Mrs Philpott will not be attending the service.

In a statement issued to local media, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham said the funeral service would be followed by burials at Derby's Nottingham Road Cemetery.

In Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, the judge, Mr Justice Colman Treacy, told the children's parents they would go on trial for murder on January 14 next year.

No applications for bail were made. The couple were remanded back into custody to next appear for a plea and case management hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on November 5.

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