Father is described by judge as disturbingly dangerous man as wife and friend are also jailed

Mick Philpott has been jailed for life for being the "driving force" behind a plot to torch a Derby home which led to the deaths of six children, with the trial judge describing him as a disturbingly dangerous man with no moral compass.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall said Philpott, 56, should serve a minimum of 15 years after a jury at Nottingham crown court convicted him on six counts of manslaughter for plotting the fire, which he and two others started in May 2012.

Philpott's wife, Mairead, and friend Paul Mosley were both sentenced to 17 years for helping the plot. They will not be eligible for release until they have served at least half their sentences.

The judge said the plot to set fire to the house and rescue the children was "a wicked and dangerous plan", adding that it was "outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person".

The judge said Mick Philpott, a father of 17 children, aimed to frame a partner who had dared to leave him, and the court heard of his long history of violence and control of women, whom he regarded as his "chattels".

The judge said he used his conviction for attempting to murder a girlfriend in 1978 to terrify other women, adding: "You have repeatedly used that conviction as a means of controlling other women, terrifying them as to what you might do to them if they did not follow your will."

The case, which the judge said was unique, has angered the public. As the trio were sentenced there were shouts from the public gallery of "Die, Mick, die." Philpott made an obscene hand gesture as he was led away to prison.

Mick Philpott with the children who died: (back row) John, nine, and Duwayne, 13; (front row) Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, Jade, 10. Photograph: Hotspot Media

Whether he is ever released, the judge said, was a matter for the parole board.

In her sentencing remarks Thirlwall said Philpott had been living with his wife and another woman, Lisa Willis, at the council house in Derby.

Willis took her children and left Philpott, who became obsessed with her.

The judge said: "You could not stand the fact that she had crossed you. You were determined to make sure that she came back and you began to put together your plan."

The judge then detailed Philpott's history of violence against women, starting with his attempted murder of a partner who left him, whom he stabbed 13 times. On his release from prison Philpott continued to abuse, control and beat women.

Tributes outside the house where six Philpott children died in Derby. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Philpott beat his first wife, with whom he had three children, before leaving her in his 40s for a 16-year-old whom he controlled "through physical and sexual violence, threats and emotional abuse".

The judge added: "She, like the two women before her, speaks of the lifelong damage she has suffered as a result of her relationship with you."

Philpott then met and married Mairead, who was from a troubled background and viewed him as her "guardian angel". She not only allowed Philpott to have a relationship with Willis, but allowed her to live in the house.

"You controlled and manipulated those women as you had controlled and manipulated their predecessors," the judge said. "They ran the household and looked after all the children. They went out to work. Their wages and their benefits went into your account, you controlled how money was spent … These two young women were not even permitted to have a front door key.

"I accept that the level of physical violence had reduced in recent years, but the level of control, aggression and fear most certainly did not. Women were your chattels, there to look after you and your children (for that is how you describe them all). You bark orders and they obey. Witness after witness described the dynamics in your household. You were kingpin, no one else mattered."

The judge said Philpott hatched a plot to frame Willis for an arson attack on the family home on the eve of a child custody hearing. "It was a wicked and dangerous plan, she said. "And you put it into effect with the assistance of your two co-defendants. You poured petrol on the floor. Paul Mosley was responsible for removing the containers from your home. You set light to it. After a short while Mairead Philpott spoke to the emergency services.

"It became clear there was no chance of a successful rescue and the children perished.

"Mercifully their deaths were swift and, it would seem, without pain."

Fire damage inside the house. Photograph: CPS/PA

The children were Jayden, five, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and 13-year-old Duwayne.

The jury on Tuesday convicted Philpott, 56, and Mosley, 46, unanimously. Mairead Philpott, 32, was convicted by majority verdict.

The judge accepted that Mick Philpott did not mean serious harm to come to any of the children who were in the house, but added: "What you did intend, plainly, was to subject your children to a terrifying ordeal. They were to be woken from their beds in the middle of the night with their home on fire so you could rescue them and be the hero. Their terror was the price they were going to pay for your callous selfishness."

The judge described how firefighters and neighbours tried to rescue the children during the blaze, and chastised Philpott for his lies afterwards. "Ever since the fire your life has been a performance for the public and the police, and then in this court," she said.

"Your conduct has been punctuated by collapses and shows of distress designed to evoke sympathy where none is merited, designed to manipulate emotion.

"I accept you have lost six children. I very much regret that everything about you suggests that your grief has very often been simulated for the public gaze."

Philpott ensured his wife and Mosley stuck to their stories, and the judge said the wife too would have been expendable for Philpott.

Sending him to prison for life, Thirlwall said: "You are a disturbingly dangerous man. Your guiding principle is what Mick Philpott wants he gets. You have no moral compass. I have no hesitation in concluding that these six offences are so serious and the danger you pose is so great that the only proper sentence is one of life imprisonment and that is the sentence I impose upon you."

Mairead Philpott cried at times during the sentencing, as the judge told her she had put her husband ahead of her children, whom she had now lost: "I accept that he treated you as a skivvy or a slave, and you were prepared to put up with that. As became clear during the trial you were prepared to go to any lengths, however humiliating, to keep him happy."

The judge said she had on occasion defied her husband's demands, but had ultimately failed her children. "You put Michael Philpott above your children and as a result they have died.

"After the fire you threw your lot in with Michael Philpott. You supported him in his quest to get residence of the other children. You complied with his sexual demands to keep Paul Mosley onside [a reference to a sex act she performed on Mosley]."

The judge accepted that Mairead Philpott was grief-stricken by the loss of her children and that she had loved them, while pointedly refusing to accept that Mick Philpott felt the same way.

After the verdicts Dawn Bestwick, Philpott's sister, said: "Victory today. They've gone down."

Derbyshire police said the Philpotts had shown no remorse for killing the children and said the case was "incredibly tragic".

Barristers for the Philpotts told a sentencing hearing on Wednesday that they had been good parents and in spite of their complex private lives their children had been doing well.

It was revealed that Mick Philpott had been on bail at the time of the fire after a violent road-rage attack. He had punched a driver after forcing him to stop because he believed he had pulled out in front of him at a roundabout. He admitted common assault but was awaiting trial on a charge of dangerous driving.

His wife's barrister said she faced risks in prison because she had been convicted of killing children. Shaun Smith QC gave mitigating factors in the hearing as he tried to persuade the judge to pass a lower sentence.

"She will be forever known as a child killer," Smith said.

He said her real sentence would be the loss of her children and that she had been dominated by her husband during their 12-year relationship.

• This article was amended on 5 April 2013. The original suggested that there were 11 children in the house at the time of the fire.