Originally published 9 April 2013;
Here, Philpott’s ex Heather Kehoe, who had two boys with him, says her son Aidan, 14, is traumatised by his link to the child killer
It’s the case that has shocked a nation. The vile father of 17, his lovers, and the sick lifestyle that led to six innocent children dying in a house fire – purposely started by their own parents.
But as Mick and Mairead Philpott face their jail terms, Philpott’s surviving children are left traumatised by their actions. One of them is Philpott’s son Aidan. Aged just 14, he is so disgusted by his father’s crimes, he’s desperate to change his name officially and erase the man from his life completely.
“My son hates Philpott – as far as he’s concerned, he’s dead."
In an exclusive interview, his mum, Heather Kehoe, 33, tells Closer: “He’s worried people will think he’s like his father. I have to reassure him he’s not – Aidan is a good lad.
“My son hates Philpott – as far as he’s concerned, he’s dead. Since this trial Aidan has started spending a lot of time in his room crying, he’s not eating properly.”
Heather did her best to protect her son from the details of his father’s perverted life and twisted plot to set fire to his home as his children slept.
Philpott had previously lived with both his wife Mairead – with whom he has five children – her son Duwayne, from a previous relationship, and his mistress Lisa Willis, 29 – plus their four kids. He notoriously bragged in the media of sharing a bed with both women – until Lisa left him in February last year.
Then, three months later, in a sick plot to frame Lisa, who was fighting for full custody of her children, Philpott, Mairead and their friend Paul Mosley, 46, started the blaze at the house in Derby. The plan was to rescue the kids, be hailed heroes and blame Lisa. But the fire took hold and Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, all lost their lives.
Last week, a jury found the accused guilty of manslaughter following an eight-week trial.
Philpott was branded “a disturbingly dangerous man” with “no moral compass” by the judge and jailed for life to serve a minimum of 15 years, while his wife and Mosley were handed 17 years respectively. Sickeningly, Philpott smiled and stuck two fingers up at the court as he was led away from the dock.
Heather’s been left to pick up the pieces of her son’s life. She was just 14 herself when Philpott lured her into a relationship. She had two boys with him, Mikey, now 15, who currently lives with foster parents for reasons we are unable to disclose, and Aidan.
She says her son’s shame has been magnified by the salacious details that emerged in court about his dad’s sex-crazed lifestyle and violent past.
After the trial, it was disclosed that in 1978 he was jailed for attempted murder and GBH with intent after a frenzied knife attack on his ex and her mum.
An anonymous woman also claims he raped her in 2005 – while Heather has claimed he regularly beat and raped her, and was violent to her boys.
Single Heather, a care worker who lives in Nottingham, reveals:
“He got into a temper once and threw Mikey into his cot, he was just 14 months old. Luckily, he wasn’t injured. Another time when Aidan was just a week old he held a pillow to his face in an attempt to scare me.
“I should have left, but I was scared of him. When I finally did leave, he fought for custody – but he didn’t love the boys, he used them to taunt me.”
Heather first met Philpott when she was just 13 – he was 37 and married to first wife Pamela Lomax, with whom he had three kids.
She recalls: “He fished at a lake where I hung out with friends. He’d give me cigarettes and beer. He told me he loved me.”
A year later, sick Philpott took her virginity and, despite her parents’ pleas, she moved in with him at 16. But within a month, he’d become violent. Heather says: “He lashed out if I annoyed him. He sent me to work as a cleaner, while he lazed at home. My wages went into his account.
“My son hates Philpott – as far as he’s concerned, he’s dead"
“If I was too tired for sex he wouldn’t take no for an answer, even when I was pregnant. Once, I refused and he grabbed a kitchen knife and said: ‘Tell me no once more.’ I was too terrified to stop him. I didn’t know where to go, I’d fallen out with my parents. Looking back, I didn’t love him, he just had a power over me.”
Just months after Mikey was born, Heather was pregnant again. With two young children to care for, she was at Philpott’s mercy even more. She says:
“Once he punched me in front of Mikey and told him to hit me too. Eventually, my fears for my sons made me realise I had to get away.”
In March 2000, Heather found the courage to go.
She fled one night after a row with Philpott, but with no money or shelter, she was forced to leave the kids. “I prayed he wouldn’t hurt them,” she adds. “I felt guilty, but I always thought his violence to them was to frighten me, so I had to trust they’d be OK.”
When she found somewhere to stay the kids joined her, although Philpott put up a fight – and eventually she was awarded full custody.
She recalls: “It was such a relief. I don’t think he really cared, it was about winning, not them.”
Philpott met Mairead that same year and, three years later, Lisa moved into his home. Heather recalls:
“I let the boys see Mick once every few months as they got on with Duwayne and the other children. But I didn’t agree with their lifestyle. I was disgusted and ashamed. Philpott seemed to lose interest and didn’t fight for regular access.”
When he appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2007, she cut contact all together. She adds: “I didn’t want them around such a bad role model.”
And Heather suspected Philpott when she heard about the blaze.
She explains: “My first thought was those poor children. Mikey and Aidan were distraught, they’d been close to the kids. But when I heard Lisa had moved out, I suspected Mick had something to do with the fire. Her leaving would have angered him and he didn’t like people disobeying him.”
Heather went to the police the next day and, after the trio were arrested, she agreed to be a witness in the case.
She says: “It was terrifying but I had to do right by those babies. During the trial, Aidan was very subdued and spent a lot of time at home. I told him not to hide, to hold his head up. He didn’t want to talk to me much about it – but said he was proud of me.”
Now Heather, who has had one relationship since Philpott and has counselling, is worried Aidan will never recover.
She says: “Lads have yelled at him in the street and called him a Philpott. But he just shouts back: ‘I’m a Kehoe.’ He tries to be tough, but I’m worried about how it’s affecting him on the inside. He can be very quiet and tearful.”