Mairead Philpott to be released from prison less than half way through her 17-year jail term

The Philpotts married in 2003 and shared a cramped three-bedroom council house in Derby with his lover Lisa Willis and their children.

Philpott led his wife and accomplice Mosley into a scheme to get a bigger council house by burning down his home and framing Ms Willis for the crime after she walked out on him.

He also hoped to win back custody of his five children who had recently moved out of the home.

His intention was to rescue the sleeping children through an upstairs window but the plan went disastrously wrong after too much petrol was used and the fire burned out of control.

The blaze claimed the lives of Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five.

Philpott, who had previously been jailed for stabbing his schoolgirl lover 27 times, wove a web of lies trying to get away with the crime and even plotted to ‘get rich quick’ off generous donations from the local community meant to pay for the funerals of his children.

Callous: The couple wept at a press conference as they appealed for help to find the killer or killers. Pictured: The coffins bearing the bodies of six children who died in the fire they started

In the days that followed the fire, Philpott began his elaborate ruse to appear blameless and even appeared at a press conference appealing for information.

During a fortnight of surveillance at the hotel where they were put up by police in May after the fire, the couple were heard whispering about the case, with Philpott recorded telling his wife to ‘stick to your story’.

They were charged by police on May 30 in connection with the deaths and Mosley was arrested in the months afterwards, having told a friend the plan had been for him to rescue the children.

Police initially charged the trio with murder but downgraded this to manslaughter because while their actions were sickeningly reckless, the defendants had not intended to kill the six.

However, he was found guilty of the horrific crime at a trial in April and sentenced to life behind bars.

The judge described the plot as ‘a wicked and dangerous plan’ that was ‘outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person’.