Afternoon:
9°c
David Cameron will vow to fight to keep the United Kingdom together, just hours before a key meeting with Scotland's First Minister on an independence referendum
More...
Search for missing millionaire family 'could take days' as police finally enter burnt-out mansion
Last updated at 18:07pm on 29.08.08
Police finally entered the burnt-out mansion of tycoon Christopher Foster for the first time today - but said it could be 'days' before the owners are located.
Officers moved into the family's £1.2million country house but there was no sign of the family, who are feared to have died in the blaze.
The move came as it was revealed that, along with the £1.2million country house, the 50-year-old had owned a string of prestige cars - a Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Range Rover
After three days forensics investigators have finally entered the remains of the mansion
Forensics experts examine the debris left behind after the house was ravaged by fire
He would use the luxury vehicles for the shooting and fishing trips he regularly enjoyed.
Last picture: Christopher Foster, Jillian and daughter Kirstie on Monday
The cars were often seen at the West Midlands Shooting Ground, a 40-minute drive from his lavish home, Osbaston House in the Shropshire village of Maesbrook.
But by the time a fire - started deliberately in three places - ripped through the house early on Tuesday morning, Mr Foster's success was nothing but a facade.
Today police said that 'every possible scenario' behind the fire was being considered and they were following up all possible lines of inquiry.
Kirstie Foster, 15, is a keen horsewoman and is due to start a new term at her £16,500-a-year school next month. It is unknown whether she died in the blaze
West Mercia Police Superintendent Gary Higgins said: "There is extensive debris at the site and it will take some days, possibly several weeks, to complete this part of the investigation.
"We will be seeking to build up a picture of the circumstances leading up to the fire."
Meanwhile police are developing profiles for all three family members.
Mr Higgins added: "I'm aware there is a lot of speculation concerning this incident and we are anxious to clarify the exact circumstances as soon as possible.'
Foster's business, which owed more than £1million to creditors and £800,000 in tax, had collapsed and he was forbidden to sell the house without permission of the liquidator, it emerged today.
The family sitting room, below a minstrels gallery
It meant Mr Foster could not cash in any increase in its value since he bought it. He could not even raise a loan against the doomed property.
Before the crash, Mr Foster had sent his daughter Kirstie to £16,500-a-year Ellesmere College, a few miles away. The 15-year-old kept her horses - Breezy, Bramble and Scrumpy Jack - in the same purpose-built block which housed her father's cars.
They died there, shot dead before the massive fire gutted their building and the mansion itself.
The family's two dogs are also thought to have been shot.
Police may know today whether the Foster family - Kirstie, her father and mother Jill, 49, died with them.
All the beds were king-size
Structural experts spent yesterday trying to make the ruined house safe enough for police to begin a search.
Last night Superintendent Gary Higgins warned that it could take them several days.
He said: 'It is a large property and there is a lot of debris inside which will have to be painstakingly sifted through and examined. This is not something which can be done quickly.' Mrs Foster's distraught sister Ann Giddings, of Perton, Wolverhampton, said: 'The whole family are in limbo at the moment, and we have no idea what has happened.
'Not knowing what's happened just makes it even more difficult - it's a terrible waiting game. We are all just too upset to say anything else at the moment.'
An oak-panelled reception room, with antique tapestries and velvet curtains
Ellesmere College headmaster Brendan Wignall said: 'We are very concerned for the safety of Kirstie and her family, who are in our thoughts and prayers.
'Kirstie is a charming, popular and hard-working girl with many friends, all of whom are hoping that she and her family will be found safe and well.' Friends left anxious messages on a number of internet sites.
Local people, horrified by the blaze and fearing the worst for the family, were shocked again to learn of their desperate financial problems.
Mr Foster paid £1,150,000 for Osbaston House in 2004, after selling another home in the village for £700,000.
Aerial view of Osbaston House
His company, ULVA Ltd, had made vast profits from developing insulation technology for oil rigs. But it went into liquidation late last year.
The firm owed £1million to a supplier called DRC Distribution and a further £800,000 to the taxman.
Land Registry documents on Osbaston House show an October 2007 High Court order stating that the house could not be sold without a further order by a judge.
Front door: This was barricaded from the insdie. Spent cartridges discovered scattered around
On May 21 this year another court order said the house could not be sold without the agreement of the liquidators, Birmingham-based insolvency practitioners Butcher Woods.
It effectively meant three-storey Osbaston House home - set in 15 acres - was no longer Mr Foster's to sell.
It also emerged last night that Mr Foster, who friends says enjoyed his 'country squire' lifestyle, had been out at an all-day clay pigeon shoot on the day before his house was torched.
Garage: Four burnt-out vehicles, including Mr Foster's Range Rover and Porsche (top, centre), Mrs Foster's 4x4, which had the personalised number plate of JILL40 and a family car, possibly a Vauxhall. Other destroyed vehicles include a tractor and a lawnmower
His wife and daughter were with him at a Bank Holiday Monday barbecue party at a neighbour's house.
They all seemed in good spirits, according to fellow guests.
One said: 'They looked like they were enjoying themselves and Chris got a bit drunk. They were among the last to leave at around 8.30pm and seemed completely normal.'
Eight hours later the huge blaze tore through the family home.
Firefighters found the entrance blocked by a horsebox, its tyres flat.
Stable block: Charred remains of family's horses visible in the burnt-out stable block, which was razed to ground. Two were shot in the stables and a third shot and its body set on fire. Other family pets including guinea pigs and special breeds of chickens may have perished
Reader views (11)
Can people please remember, while playing amateur detective, that this missing/possibly dead family have relatives in distress who may be reading your comments.
- Bill, London, UK, 29/08/2008 12:54
Report abuse
Looking beyond the various possibilities of suicide or foul play, there is a wider message, i.e. just because you live in a big house, it doesn't mean you have money to burn (no pun intended). The government might like to bear that in mind as it seeks to take ever more money from asset rich but cash poor tax payers.
- Paul, London, 29/08/2008 12:03
Report abuse
I can't help thinking about the circumstances - the face of the young daughter is vivid in my mind, whatever has happened she did not deserve any of it.
My reluctant thought is that Foster did it and either killed his family, his animals and then himself or he has escaped to another country with his family.
I don't know which scenario is most tragic....himself or third parties.
Killing horses and dogs would prevent them making a lot of noise and raising an alarm, but I can't imagine that revenge killers would have bothered to kill chickens and guinea pigs, as has been reported - what would be the point - its too personal, too fiddly.
The wife and daughter would never have willingly allowed anything to happen to their beloved pets and horses.
The horse box blocking the gate is an interesting one too - it might have given him and his family a window of time to get away, but a revenge killing would not really have needed that - not if everyone was already dead.
Whatever way you look at it its a sad story and I just hope that they are all ok.
The team combing the property must be finding it tough.
- Fiona, UK, 29/08/2008 11:57
Report abuse
This man obviously adored his daughter & I find it hard to believe he would kill her horses and other pets and especially the girl herself. He was obviously afraid of an attack on his family, having recently fortified his entire property. Many people are selfish in business these days but the people to whom he owed money dealt with the situation previously via the legal system & so were not involved in this. His asset stripping meant he would lose Ltd Co status and therefore his estate would be sold to pay off his debts.
But I don't believe he arsoned the house, killed the animals and his family - it's too vindictive even for someone in his situation or even if he was suicidal. Its like saying that just because you are self-made you must be a psychopath, it doesn't make sense.
This looks pretty professional. The destruction is so total to the main house and barns, including the cars that the key words, clever, rich, powerful and cold-blooded come to mind. Look to his fear of blackmail and intruders. As the three fires were started simultaneously more than one person would seem to have been involved. The main house may have been boarded from the inside but there must have been a linking door to the annexe through which an arsonist / murderer could leave.
The culprits had all day to prepare the attack as the family were out at a barbecue until about 9pm. I do hope they are still alive, particularly the innocent young girl, but I fear the worst.
- Shirley, Bristol UK, 29/08/2008 11:43
Report abuse
Most people at some point find themselves in financial difficulty and do not turn to these extremes.
If they have fled to avoid their debts I hope they are caught and severely dealt with.
There are no excuses for the killing of the innocent horses, dogs and other animals.
If he has killed his family then himself then he is a total coward as well.
- Tena, UK, 29/08/2008 11:26
Report abuse
Strange this, I imagine if you wanted revenge on someone you would just have them or their loved ones have an unfortunate incident. What would be the benefit of an absolute torching including the pets and the cars. After all the victim wouldn't be aware of the destruction of the peripheral assets if they were already dead.
Something fishy here, hopefully the truth will out!
- Gordon Riddell, Fife, UK, 29/08/2008 11:20
Report abuse
If Chris was "A bit drunk" when he left their friends on Monday evening that, l'm afraid, probably leads via further drink to a pre- planned double murder and suicide. Bearing in mind the almost complete destruction of the property's main features and all their lifestyle's trappings, plus the obstructions to emergency services, ready & in place, l can't see any other resolution. It would be as well if the cctv system had been disabled: it wouldn't make nice viewing.
There doesn't seem any way back from this conclusion and l hope for Kirstie's sake l'm wrong and the whole grisly mess is a cover to going on the run.. But, l very much doubt it.
- Howard White, Birkenhead England, 29/08/2008 11:10
Report abuse
It seems to me the obvious thing that has happened is that a drunken depressed and bankrupt man, in desperation has shot all his animals and set them alight. (possibly the 2 pools of blood could be his wife and daughter's or the dogs) then barricaded himself and possibly his family inside and torched the building.
- Anon, Anon, 29/08/2008 10:49
Report abuse
I suppose the speculation is that the old man did it all - and then himself.
- Chris O'Grady, Croydon, UK, 29/08/2008 10:34
Report abuse
Looking at this guy's form, he's either borrowed money from the mob and is now paying the price of not keeping up repayments or is sipping beer by a pool in Northern Cyprus safe in the fact that his creditors and HMRC can't touch him (The police know he had connections there). His creditors will now get the insurance and stop pursuit.
The timing is perfect as his daughter had 2 week before school (fees to pay in advance) and those dogs and horses don't feed themselves.
He's probably taken a pragmatic look at his situation and, like liquidating a company, has decided to liquidate his existence.
- Big Andy, London, 29/08/2008 09:50
Report abuse
Not necessarily. You owe the bank ten grand and they own you. You owe the bank two million and they are so afraid of not getting their money that you effectively own them.
It's one of life's inequalities favouring the rich.
Being a 'minus millionaire' has just as great a lifestyle as being a millionaire.
- Ethan, UK, 29/08/2008 09:37
Report abuse
