Suicide watch ... Philpott
CHILD killer Mick Philpott was last night cowering in his cell inside a notorious prison known as Monster Mansion.
Philpott, 56 — who went on TV to demand a bigger council house — is in Wakefield Prison with 750 cons, some of them Britain’s most violent criminals.
Jail sources say he faces attack by other inmates — for the price of a few cigarettes — after being sentenced to life for killing six of his kids in a fire.
His arrogant courtroom displays of bravado ended when he reached the high-security jail and was placed on the vulnerable prisoners’ wing.
Home for monsters ... Wakefield prison in West Yorkshire
Guards are now keeping close watch to make sure Philpott does not harm himself — or come under attack from other inmates.
A source said: “Philpott was broken when he returned to Wakefield. He now realises this will be home for the rest of his life, and that’s a sobering thought.
“Officers will treat him with professionalism and the care he is entitled to, but that doesn’t go for the rest of the prison population.
“If he is ever placed on a main wing he’ll be a goner. Someone will slash him or attack him with a mixture of hot water and sugar. Inmates call it ‘napalm’ because it sticks to the skin while it burns.
“They’ll do it for a couple of packets of fags and some chocolate, though most would probably do it free for the notoriety that comes with it.”
Neighbours from hell ... Charles Bronson and Robert Black
Philpott has been put on suicide watch in a cell that has been stripped down to leave nothing that could be used to harm himself or others. Guards can monitor him 24 hours a day through a Perspex door, and he will wear special clothes that cannot be torn into strips to make a noose.
He will eventually be placed in the segregation area away from the main prison population.
But the unit is still home to Britain’s most violent inmate, 60-year-old Charles Bronson, who has moved prisons 120 times due to his long record of attacks on staff and other prisoners.
The West Yorkshire jail is also home to child murderers Levi Bellfield, 44, and Robert Black, 65. It is where Soham murderer Ian Huntley, 39, was attacked and where serial killer Dr Harold Shipman, 57, hanged himself.
Philpott will exercise alone, supervised by three guards so he cannot be attacked en route to the yard or gym. He will eat all his meals in his cell, and everything he does will be recorded in a log.
The source added: “Philpott is going to be looking over his shoulder for the next 15 years.”
Notorious ... Levi Bellfield and Harold Shipman
Philpott enjoyed a more relaxed regime while being held at Wakefield on remand before his trial.
Remand prisoners are treated as innocent, so have more rights and automatically enjoy luxuries like a games console in their cells instead of having to earn them as convicted inmates do.
But his status changed this week when a jury at Nottingham Crown Court convicted him of six counts of manslaughter.
The judge branded Philpott “disturbingly dangerous” and jailed him for life with a minimum sentence of 15 years. Philpott’s wife Mairead, 32, and pal Paul Mosley, 46, were both jailed for 17 years.
Philpott’s kids Duwayne, 13, Jade, ten, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jessie, six, and Jayden, five, all died in a fire at their home in Allenton, Derby, last May.
The court heard Philpott led a plot to burn down the house and blame it on his ex-mistress Lisa Willis, 29, after she walked out, taking her kids with her.
Philpott first came to nationwide attention in 2007 when he went on ITV’s Jeremy Kyle show to demand a bigger council house for himself, his wife, lover and ten kids. The jobless dad was dubbed “Britain’s Biggest Scrounger”.
Child killer ... Philpott
PM: Sponger debate right
DAVID Cameron yesterday backed George Osborne’s attack on Philpott’s benefits sponging.
The PM said his pal was “absolutely right” to demand a debate over the killer’s £60,000-a-year scrounger lifestyle. It came as Lib Dem deputy Danny Alexander said the Chancellor was wrong to make any link between Philpott’s handouts and his children’s deaths.
But Mr Cameron, left, said: “What the Chancellor went on to say was we should ask some wider questions about our welfare system, how much it costs and the signals that it sends.”
A YouGov poll for Channel 5 News yesterday found 51 per cent think the Philpott children’s deaths were “just the actions of an evil man”. And 43 per cent argued they raised “serious questions about the benefits system”.
The debate raged as more major changes come into effect today with the start of the new tax year.
The top rate of tax for high earners on more than £150,000 a year is reduced from 50p to 45p in a move Labour dubbed “a tax cut for millionaires”.
But the personal income tax threshold also goes up a massive £1,335 to £9,440, giving 24 million people a tax cut of £443 over the year.
Link ... Cameron
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