Derby fire: Philpotts were prime suspects within hours of blaze And it was Philpott's irrational behaviour which helped convince officers of his guilt. While neighbours got filthy and suffered the severe effects of smoke inhalation trying to get to the children, Philpott appeared clean and not suffering any problems. In the aftermath of the fire he was seen acting inappropriately and strangely. Mr Cotterill described Philpott's performance in a press conference five days after the fire as "shameful." He said in a private room, just prior to facing the media, Philpott was acting "like an excited child," before going in and pretending to cry and failing to issue a "heartfelt" appeal to catch the killer. Immediately after, Mr Cotterill, who stayed behind to brief the press, said he found him lying face down on the corridor floor. He said: "It was a childish performance and a plan to make him look like someone who was distraught and unable to stand. Within 20 seconds he was up on his feet and being his normal cocky self, making inappropriate comments to the female liaison officers. Marie Smith, manager of the Royal Derby Hospital morgue, where the children were taken, said Philpott had pretended to faint, referred to his dead children as "little shits" and got a police officer in a headlock during "horseplay." She said Philpott, when asked whether he would like some water, asked her if she could put some gin in it, and described another visit by the Philpotts as "a circus." Philpott wore the death of his six children "like a badge of honour," Pc Joanne Halfrod said, and said he asked her back to his hotel room when she saw him outside the hospital. Mr Cotterill said: "After 30 years of doing what I do, I have never seen anybody who has suffered that magnitude of loss deal with it as he did. I would expect anybody to be completely and utterly destroyed. He added: "Any attempt to understand Philpott's behaviour is very difficult. It doesn't fit within any normal boundary.