The Philpott Fire: 5 Years On

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In May 2012, Mick Philpott started a fire in his own house which killed six of his children. He was jailed for life for manslaughter.

Philpott had featured in the media from 2006, as a result of his large family (having fathered 17 children by various women) and his reliance on state benefits. The killings allowed some sections of Fleet Street to depict him as a poster boy for “everything that’s wrong with Benefits Britain”.

He made tearful public appeals for help to find the arsonist, but some observers thought he revelled in the attention a "psychopath" and "exhibitionist" with "antisocial personality disorder."

With new interviews with Philpott's son, close family, friends and neighbours, this documentary looks at the impact of the horrific fire that killed six innocent children.