Derby fire: police secretly record the Philpotts discussing their alibis

Covert recordings were a vital tool in the successful prosecution of this horrific case:

Mick Philpott, 56, his wife Mairead, 31, were found guilty of manslaughter at Nottingham Crown Court today over the house fire in Derby which killed their six children.

The police, who were suspicious of the couple, hid microphones at the Premier Inn in Uttoxeter New Rd, Derby, between May 15 - 29 to record the couple's conversations.

After their police interviews, Mick Philpott was recorded asking his wife: "What did you say about how many times I went up the ladders....how many times I tried to get in?" Mairead is heard to answer: "You tried everything you could to get in, like I said to them, I wanted to run through the flames up the stairs."

Detectives defended the decision to bug the hotel room the Philpotts stayed in, saying that it provided vital evidence in the case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9967537/Derby-fire-police-secretly-record-the-Philpotts-discussing-their-alibis.html