OUTRAGE OVER CHILD KILLER PHILPOTT £22K LEGAL AID BILL
A CHILD killer has been awarded nearly £22,000 of taxpayers’ money for a string of secret civil cases.
Mick Philpott had already received £178,777 in legal aid for his bid to escape justice over the house fire which killed six of his children.
We can reveal the 62-year-old has also been awarded public money for a series of hearings since the blaze at his home in May 2012.
In one long-running case, which began in 2012, taxpayers shelled out £12,857 to provide solicitors for dad-of-17 Philpott.
In another case, which began in 2013, his lawyers cost £6,026.
A third matter saw taxpayers billed £878.67 for solicitors.
In total, the figures show how since the deadly fire – which Philpott plotted with wife Mairead – £21,781.97 has been handed to him for civil cases.
Legal reasons stop the Daily Star Sunday revealing further details of the hearings.
Documents also show that before the fire, Philpott received
£17,820 over another two cases. Along with the huge bill for his solicitors and barristers at his trial, it means taxpayers have paid out £218,380 overall for Philpott’s legal help.
His wife Mairead was awarded
£171,009 legal aid for the trial and £3,396 for an appeal.
The pair were caged in April
2013 after their children were killed in the fire at their threebedroom home in Derby.
Along with pal Paul Mosley, they burned down the house to try to obtain a bigger council house, but it backfired when the home was engulfed in a fireball, trapping the children upstairs.
Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, seven, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, all died in the blaze. The Philpotts later held a press conference begging for help finding the killer before they themselves were charged.
The trio was found guilty of manslaughter and Philpott was sentenced to a life term with a minimum of 15 years.
Jean Taylor, who runs campaign group Families Fighting for Justice, branded the legal aid payouts an “insult”.
Her charity, supporting more than 1,000 people whose lives have been affected by homicide, has been told its £23,000-a-year Government funding is stopping. Jean said: “I’m sickened and appalled that time and again there’s no stop point for when wrongdoers can claim legal aid.
“A man who did what he did is allowed to take £22,000 out of the public purse, yet we’ve been denied £23,000 to help support the most vulnerable.”
Philpott’s payouts were released following our Freedom of Information request.
A spokesman for the Legal Aid Agency said: “We do not comment on individual cases.” DAILY STAR SUNDAY SAYS
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