Philpott fire case: Live updates from the ongoing manslaughter trial

The trial of three people accused of killing six children in a Derby house fire today enters its 16th day today.

Parents Mick Philpott, his wife Mairead, and family friend Paul Mosley, have pleaded not guilty to six counts of manslaughter.

Day 16 of the trial at Nottingham Crown Court

The trial has now been adjourned until Wednesday morning.

4.20pm In cross-examination, Mr Latham asks Dr Schudel: "You cannot exclude that all three defendants had Total additives on their clothing, can you?"

Dr Schudel replies: "No, that's right."

4pm Dr Schudel tells the court: "It is not likely from the evidence that petrol had been recently poured down the kitchen sink. The sample taken for analysis was chemically particularly dirty."

3.50pm The next witness will be Dr David Schudel, certified chemist and fire investigator. The court hears he is appearing on behalf of Mosley.

3.35pm Mrs Jewell concludes her evidence.

3.30pm Mr Latham, in re-examination, asks Mrs Jewell if she was sent samples from the u-bends from the bath and basin upstairs.

She tells the court she was and the results for both in terms of finding any additives was "negative".

3.15pm Mr Nolan asks Mrs Jewell: "You are unable to help us to say when the petrol additive got on these items of clothing?"

Mrs Jewell answered: "That's right, I can't say when that occurred."

3.10pm Mr Smith tells the court the flip flops which had petrol additive on them were given to Mairead after the fire by a neighbour. He said: "One option is that they had petrol on them before they were handed over?"

Mrs Jewell said: "Yes, all I can say is that the petrol additive was present."

Ben Nolan QC is next to cross-examine Mrs Jewell, in relation to Paul Mosley.

2.55pm Mr Smith asks Mrs Jewell: "It is not possible to say exactly where on the pants and leggings (seized from Mairead) the petrol additive was, is it?"

Mrs Jewell replies: "No."

2.45pm The items examined by Mrs Jewell which were seized from Mairead are produced in court in evidence bags, while Shaun Smith QC cross-examines her.

Mrs Jewell puts on surgical gloves to handle the items.

2.30pm Anthony Orchard QC, for Philpott, asks Mrs Jewell if she could say where on his client's socks the petrol additive was. Mrs Jewell said: "No."

2.20pm The afternoon session will continue with the cross-examination of Mrs Jewell.

The case is adjourned until 2.10pm.

12.15pm Richard Latham, QC, prosecuting, asks about the defendants' clothing.

Analysis of Philpott's black Adidas tracksuit bottoms found evidence of Total and BP petrol additives on them.

The next item analysed was a pair of slippers seized from the conservatory at 18 Victory Road. Total petrol additives were found on the left slipper.

A pair of trainers taken from the conservatory was examined. A low level of Shell petrol additives was found on the right trainer and a low level of Total additive was found on the left, the court heard.

A pair of boxer shorts revealed a low level of Shell additive and grey socks seized from a neighbour's house revealed Total additive on them.

No petrol additives were discovered on Mairead's dressing gown or on her white T-shirt. Total petrol additives were found on her sandals.

And a low level of Total additive was discovered on her black leggings.

The court was told that a low level of Total additive was found on her underwear.

Mosley has his jeans, jumper and a pair of shoes seized and analysed.

A "moderately strong" level of Total petrol additive was found on his jeans, low levels were found on his jumper and on one of the shoes.

10.20am The first prosecution witness is petrol expert Rebecca Jewell.

She is a forensic scientist who specialises in fire investigation.

Over six months she was sent by police a series of exhibits including clothing from the defendants and from the scene.

Mrs Jewell explained to the jury that branded fuel, such as BP and Shell, have a higher concentration of additives which makes car engines run more efficiently compared to supermarket fuel.

She said: "The liquid in petrol is not the part that burns, that is the vapours that sit above it.

"Petrol additives do not burn in fires, they are left behind. This means we can analyse them and unequivocally say which brand they have come from."

Mrs Jewell explained that the additives will remain on clothing for a long time, even when the fuel has evaporated.

She said: "Additives are very stable and will remain on clothing until it is washed off by detergent. Even when degraded we can tell unequivocally which brand, for example Shell and BP, the base fuel has come from by their particular additives."

Asked by Richard Latham, QC, prosecuting, if any ignitable liquid was found on the doormat outside the house, Mrs Jewell said: "No."

A second exhibit of fur debris taken from the hallway, which includes fragments of burnt carpet underlay and gripper rods, was also found to contain Shell petrol.

Analysis of a petrol strimmer seized from the back garden of 18 Victory Road concluded it contained two-stroke oil and fuel from Shell and Texaco garages.

And a sample taken from the u-bend of the sink at 18 Victory Road, following analysis, contained a "low level of Total petrol", Ms Jewell told the court.

Mrs Jewell was also sent exhibits from the home of Adam Taylor and Vicky Ferguson at 26 Victory Road.

One, a red container, contained additives from petrol at Shell, Texaco and Total garages.

No petrol additives were discovered on four separate pairs of jeans seized from Adam Taylor and Vicky Ferguson's home.

Yesterday, the court heard that the sleeping Philpott children would have been overcome by the smoke from the Victory Road fire so quickly they would never have regained consciousness.

The 15th day of the Philpott trial yesterday heard medical evidence from experts on how the children died.

The blaze in May last year claimed the lives of Duwayne Philpott, 13, his 10-year-old sister, Jade, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five.

The trial had heard evidence on day 8 from a consultant paediatrician that one of the six children had died on the way to the hospital from the fire and another four were declared dead inside the hospital building.

The sixth, Duwayne, only had a pulse after being resuscitated and was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital where he died the following day.

Yesterday, Stuart Hamilton, a Home Office-registered pathologist, in a statement that was read to the court, said five of the children would have died from inhalation of the products of combustion.

He said the children would have been "rendered unconscious without necessarily having woken from sleep".

Dwayne Philpott's cause of death was given as hypoxic ischaemic brain injury, the combination of inhalation of the products of combustion and the consequence of a cardiac arrest.

Prosecutor Richard Latham QC said it was a "blessing" that it was unlikely the children were aware of the fire.

During yesterday afternoon's evidence, the children's parents, Mick and Mairead Philpott, were both wiping their eyes.

The couple, and family friend Paul Mosley, are accused of the manslaughter of the children.

The prosecution alleges the fire was started as part of an alleged plot to frame Philpott's former live-in lover, Lisa Willis, with whom he was battling for custody of four of the children.

The court heard evidence from Daniel Matthews, a forensic scientist, who conducted a number of tests following the police investigation on the clothing and footwear recovered from the three defendants. He said the purpose of his examinations were to determine whether there was any microscopic burn damage.

A pair of trainers belonging to Mick Philpott found in the conservatory of the home were tested and a form of "chemical liquid" was found on the sole. DNA swabs were also taken from a petrol can that the court heard was recovered "beyond Osmaston Park Way".

The court heard how Paul Mosley's DNA was not found on the can.

Mr Matthews also examined debris found at the property after the fire which he said could have been a burglar alarm and smoke detector.

Michael Jones, a forensic scientist, said in a statement that was read to the court: "I would conclude that there is no evidence to suggest the intruder alarm or smoke detectors had been disabled before the fire.

"It is likely smoke detectors operated within a few seconds of the fire igniting and continued until they fell part.

"The intruder alarm most likely operated when the door fell apart. This is likely to have happened within one minute or so within ignition."

The court heard evidence from David Ciudisks, scientific support officer for Derbyshire Constabulary.

He attended 18 Victory Road on May 16 to photograph the property and seized a petrol strimmer from the bottom of the garden. He told the court he decanted the fuel from the tank and put it into a special cleaning container to be tested.

The case continues. The prosecution's petrol expert is expected to give evidence today.

*THE PHILPOTT TRIAL: Visit our Philpott trial channel here for all related stories in the fire death case.