THE father of child-killer Mairead Philpott has welcomed news she will not be allowed to appeal against her 17-year sentence.
Philpott yesterday had an appeal, that could have seen her sentence cut, thrown out.
In the first hearing of its kind in front of live TV cameras, the Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Thomas, dismissed the 32-year-old's bid to launch an appeal.
Philpott, her husband, Mick, and family friend Paul Mosley were each found guilty of six counts of manslaughter following a seven-week trial in April.
The Philpotts' children Jade, 10, and her brothers, Duwayne, 13, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, all perished in their bedrooms after flames tore through their home in Victory Road, Allenton, in the early hours of May 11 last year.
The Philpotts and Mosley had used petrol to start a blaze in a bid to frame Mick Philpott's ex-lover.
Yesterday, Mairead Philpott was not in court and did not appear live via videolink to hear representations from her barrister Shaun Smith QC and counter-evidence from prosecuting barrister Richard Latham QC.
The morning started as Mr Smith QC told the court the grounds of his client's appeal were based on her "utter dependence" on her husband.
He said: "We do not believe this was given enough weight by her ladyship in the original trial."
But, following the court's ruling, Philpott's father Jimmy Duffy said outside court that he believed his daughter should have been given a life sentence.
He also told reporters his daughter had ignored his last letter and "has nothing to do with us".
Mr Duffy said: "There is love there because she is my flesh and blood, but I'll never forgive her for what she's done."
He added: "At the beginning I said that the whole trio should've got a life sentence."
Presiding judge Lord Justice Thomas gave a number of reasons for the dismissal of the bid to appeal at Nottingham Crown Court.
He said: "When considering the grounds to appeal we conclude that the original trial judge, Justice Thirlwall, was right to reach her conclusions.
"Firstly, this was not a spur of the moment plan (to start the fire that killed the children) it was carefully and deliberately thought out.
"Secondly, the risk of pouring petrol before lighting it must have been obvious to her.
"Thirdly, she actually participated in starting the fire, as petrol was found on her.
"Fourthly, her conduct after her arrest was one where she continued to maintain the lie that others were responsible.
"It seems to us that she was capable of standing up to Michael Philpott.
"She could make a choice, therefore she has a responsibility that was not overborne by the will of Michael Philpott.
"When something was important to Mrs Philpott, she was capable of exercising a choice that was not that of Michael Philpott."
A packed courtroom broke out into spontaneous cheers and rounds of applause as Lord Justice Thomas threw out Mrs Philpott's appeal bid.
Mr Smith had argued: "The kind of women he (Mr Philpott) targeted were not strong women who had the capacity to stand up to him. She was particularly vulnerable to a man like Michael Philpott."
Talking about his client Mr Smith said: "She will never see the children again that she gave life to.
"That will be the real sentence to Mairead Philpott.
"The loss of those children will be a lifetime reminder that she was not able to stand up to a domineering and dangerous man."
In closing his speech, Mr Smith said to the judges: "We are asking you to do something that will not find favour with those who seek vengeance and retribution."
Mr Latham had successfully prosecuted the Philpotts and Mosley at the original trial earlier this year at the same court.
He said there was "no dispute" that Mrs Philpott loved her children and that "the deaths are a terrible blow to her".
He said: "But there was a plan here that she was involved with that had not been hatched on the spur of the moment.
"In the weeks that followed the fire, she was equally involved. Her conduct after the fire saw her laughing and joking, enjoying the attention.
"We submit that she was not just a spectator, she knew what was going to happen."
Earlier, the court was told how Mosley, whose appeal was also due to be heard in the same court at the same time, had withdrawn his application at the 11th hour.
Family members said they were told by police late on Thursday night that the 46-year-old would not appeal.
Andy Lyons is the partner of Angela Mosley, Mosley's sister. Mr Lyons, of Spondon, said: "17 years was the tariff set by a highly respected high court judge and we don't think for one minute that was a figure that was plucked out of a hat. In our opinion, the appeal was frivolous and immoral."
HISTORY MADE BY TELEVISED APPEALYESTERDAY was the first time a Court of Appeal hearing has been filmed outside London.
Judges heard from legal representatives. They then went through the sentencing guidelines and gave their ruling. Cameras only focused on the judges and lawyers.
There was also a 70-second delay, which enabled any protests to be screened out and ensured that judges had sufficient time to signal to the video-journalist, if they believed any material needed to be removed from the broadcast.
The hearing was screened live at www.derbytelegraph .co.uk.
Cameras are being allowed into legal proceedings to enable them to be "understood much better".
