A man accused of killing his six children in a house fire has told a court he did not start the blaze but that he has his suspicions about who did.
Mick Philpott, 56, denied any involvement in starting the fire at his home in Victory Road, Allenton, Derby, in the early hours of May 11 last year.
Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five, died during the blaze. Their brother Duwayne, 13, was taken to Derby Royal Hospital and transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital but died three days later.
Taking the witness box at the start of his defence case at Nottingham Crown Court, Philpott, wiped away tears as he answered questions.
He told the court he regretted appearing on the Jeremy Kyle show and said his children were bullied after his plea on the programme for a bigger council house.
Mick Philpott said his children were bullied after he appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show
Anthony Orchard QC, defending Philpott, asked him: "Did you set the fire?"
"No," Philpott replied.
"Are you connected to the setting of the fire?"
"No."
Mr Orchard asked: "Do you know who did?"
"No."
"Do you have your suspicions?"
"I do," Philpott answered.
Philpott, his 31-year-old wife Mairead and a third defendant, 46-year-old Paul Mosley, all deny six separate counts of manslaughter.
Philpott and his 31-year-old wife Mairead
Anthony Orchard QC asked him why he appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
Philpott replied: "We all decided. At that time we needed a bigger house."
The court heard that the children were bullied following their appearance on the programme.
"They (people) called them brats, scum of the earth," Philpott said.
He told the court that he and his children received death threats following the family's TV appearance.
Mr Orchard asked: "Was it a good time for the family?"
"No," Philpott replied.
He was asked about claims that the fire was set last year because the family wanted a bigger house.
Philpott told the court: "The house was quite sufficient."
He said his wife Mairead was the sole carer for the children while he would play snooker and darts with them and help them with their schoolwork.
During the trial, which started last month, jurors heard that Philpott shared the family home with his wife and their six children, all of whom died in the fire, and also with his live-in mistress, Lisa Willis.
Miss Willis, 29, lived in the property with her five children, four of whom were fathered by Philpott, until finally walking out with the youngsters in February last year.
Philpott told the court he had no clue beforehand that Miss Willis was going to leave.
Asked about their relationship, he said: "At that particular time I thought that me and Lisa had this bond that was inseparable."
He had discussed it with his wife because she was "concerned" about it, he said.
Mr Orchard asked him: "How were you treating Lisa?"
Philpott replied: "I treated her like a queen."
He told the court that he was spending a lot of time with his wife and slept in the evenings with Miss Willis.
Mr Orchard asked him about openly discussing his desire to divorce his wife and marry Miss Willis.
"What was Mairead's reaction to that?" Mr Orchard asked.
"She had no reaction, that was the problem," Philpott replied.
"Mairead, was she going to leave?"
"No, Mairead was not leaving. She was not going anywhere," Philpott said.
"Mairead will always be my wife, even if we got divorced."
The court heard that Philpott has asked his wife for a divorce three or four times over a period of years.
Philpott told the court that he and his wife regularly discussed with Miss Willis what would happen should there be a split.
"We always said that if we ever split up we would never stop each other from seeing the children," he told the jury.
Miss Willis left the Philpott home in February, taking her five children with her.
Asked about the effect of this on his and Mairead's six children, Philpott said they were "distraught".
"They were so upset, so distraught. It was horrible," Philpott said.
He told the court that he had taken some tablets with brandy after Miss Willis left.
"Was this a suicide attempt?", Mr Orchard asked him.
"No, it was self-pity," Philpott replied.