Child killer Mick Philpott is reportedly the next target for prisoners at the jail where Ian Watkins was murdered, and has been moved to segregation for his own safety.
Inmates at the Category A prison, dubbed Monster Mansion, are said to be eyeing Philpott as the next inmate to be killed. The 69-year-old, convicted over the deaths of six of his children in a house fire in Derby, is said to be next on the hitlist.
Conviction and imprisonment
Philpott was jailed in 2013 after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, 9, Jack, 8, Jesse, 6, and Jayden, 5. The children died in a house fire deliberately started by Philpott and his then wife Mairead. Philpott set the blaze and then tried to pin it on someone else.
He has been serving his time in Wakefield. Now Philpott has been placed in segregation under a Rule 45 order after prisoners started to look for their next victim following Ian Watkins' murder behind bars. Such is the threat of him being attacked that he is kept apart from fellow inmates at all times.
Threats from fellow inmates
Ever since that murder, prisoners in the West Yorkshire prison have been taking bets on who would be next, with Philpott featuring among the heavily fancied favourites.
A source told the Daily Mail: "Philpott is a marked man. You can get away with being left alone for a lot of crimes in prison, but not if you're a child killer. He is going to be got. He knows it, the staff know it, and there is only so much anyone can do about it."
The insider claims he has already been beaten in the past and left "battered" in one attack, and now it is feared the next one will be worse. They added: "He's already been attacked once, but he's such a vile individual that it will happen again. He can't be locked up in seg forever. After a while he will start going mad and think that anything is better than being banged up all day on his own with no one to talk to."
Parole and prison conditions
Philpott could be eligible for parole next year and could be allowed to leave early if he is deemed to no longer be a threat to the public. The insider continued: "Most of those who interact with Philpott do not believe he should be released because they believe he still poses a significant risk. There is no sense at all that he has reflected on his actions, his lifestyle or the way he lived, which eventually saw him sentenced to life in prison. He's deeply manipulative and, like a lot of cons, loves to play the victim card."
Inside Wakefield, sex offenders and child killers are seen as the lowest of the low and are often targeted by other inmates. The source added: "Life inside Wakefield is pretty austere most of the time for everyone, so there is always a lot of tension. Attacks on staff by prisoners and prisoner-on-prisoner attacks take place pretty much every other day. There is always something kicking off, so violence is part of the culture. No one is happy in Wakefield. The staff hate it and the prisoners are terrified most of the time. Everything about Wakefield is depressing. There are staff shortages, prisoners spend too much time in their cells, and it's full of some of the most vile – and hated – people in the prison system. And Philpott is one of those."
