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CROCODILE TEARS
How evil Mick Philpott exposed guilt at killing his 6 kids in fire with ‘furrowed brows’ and crocodile tears
THIS is the chilling moment Mick Philpott exposed his guilt at killing his six children with "furrowed brows" and crocodile tears, experts say.
Duwayne Philpott, 13, his sister Jade, 10, and brothers Jack, nine, John, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all died in a horror arson attack.
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Their parents Mick and Mairead gave a press conference after the tragedy as they desperately appealed for help in catching the culprit.
But in a shocking twist, the monster pair actually started the fire themselves in a twisted plot to frame Philpott's former mistress and gain custody of their children.
The scrounging ex-squaddie hoped having custody of the kids would top up his benefits again and told neighbours his ex had threatened to burn the house down.
But the warped plan failed as the house in Allenton, Derby, filled with thick smoke as the tragic children slept upstairs.
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Documentary Mick Philpott: A Faking It Special has now revealed how shameless Philpott gave away his guilt in the police press conference.
Body language expert Dr Cliff Lansley said: "The expression we’re seeing on both their faces is not genuine sadness.
"He’s brought his brows together; he looks like he’s in pain or he’s got constipation or something.”
The fiends could be seen crying as they pleaded for help to “catch their children’s killer.”
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But Dr Lansley has highlighted a cluster of gestures that showed his and Mairead's deception as they lied to the country.
He said: “His mouth is lifted; we’ve got this deep furrow on his cheek. We’ve got the same pinch of the eyes and the brows squeezed together.
“None of those features would be part of a genuine sadness expression.
“Emotions are unbidden, they happen to us. We don’t choose them. But he’s choosing these expressions. And 10 seconds in from them walking through the door, the performance of fake sadness is on.”
The press conference in May 2012 instantly aroused suspicions the couple were behind the gruesome act.
Philpott dabbed at his eyes with a tissue but never shed a tear for his tragic kids.
FAKE TEARS
Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes said: "This over the top, overacted, ham performance really isn’t fooling anybody.
“And if the finger of suspicion hadn’t been pointed at Philpott already, this certainly made it so. Nobody was convinced.”
Philpott saw himself as a local celebrity after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show and a documentary with Ann Widdecombe.
The benefits scrounger fathered at least 15 children and portrayed himself as a poster boy for broken Britain.
Even in the press conference, he went into "impression management mode" by wearing dog tags as a nod to his military service.
As he played the part of a grieving father, he also controlled Mairead "like a puppet" in a shameless attempt to dupe police.
But unbeknown to the couple, police believed the interview a "sham" and were closely following their every move.
KILLER PARENTS
They carried out surveillance on the Philpotts and the cruel web of lies began to unravel.
Officers discovered Philpott had hatched the deadly plan along with Mairead and pal Paul Mosley.
He was best mates with Philpott and took part in sordid sex games with his wife Mairead even after the children were killed.
One sordid session took place while police were bugging a hotel room where they had the killers housed.
The trio denied their involvement but each was convicted of six counts of manslaughter after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in 2013.
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Philpott was jailed for life while Mairead and Mosley were each handed 17-year jail terms.
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Mairead was released from prison in 2020 after serving just half her sentence.
- Mick Philpott: A Faking It Special is available to stream exclusively on discovery+ from Saturday 4th June
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