A teenage girl who was the last person to have contact with Kirstie Foster today told of the final text conversation she had with the 15-year-old before she died at her Shropshire home.

The inquests on Kirstie, her businessman father Christopher Foster, 50, and his wife Jill, has heard that a huge blaze took hold of the family’s home at Maesbrook, near Oswestry, in August last year.

The remains of their bodies were found at the site in the following days.

It is claimed Christopher Foster started the fires by filling the home – Osbaston House – with an accelerant.

Today a teenager, who cannot be named, told of a conversation she had with Kirstie over the internet chatroom MSN on the night of August 25 shortly before the blaze broke out at the Foster home, but “Kirstie went offline out of the blue” without saying goodbye at about 11.30pm.

They said that they continued their conversation via text message and Kirstie told the youngster that her dad had turned off the internet so she could go to bed.

The last text message sent by Kirstie at 12.14am said: “I’m off to sleep now night night love you” to which the youngster replied “night night love you Kirstie”.

Yesterday the inquest heard Mrs Foster, 49, and the couple’s daughter both died of a gunshot wound to the head, while Foster died from smoke inhalation.

In a statement read out at the inquest today farmer Robert Moseley said he was awoken between 2am and 4am on the morning of the blaze by “high velocity shots being fired”, saying he heard at least four shots in a 15-minute period which could be heard at his home one-mile from Osbaston House.

Earlier today Oswestry car dealer John Hughes, a neighbour of the Fosters, told the hearing: “I actually said to the police officer that the central heating tank pump was hanging out and pipes were going into the house.”

Yesterday the inquests heard how Christopher Foster wanted to kill himself after his company collapsed leaving him with £1.2m of debts and facing bankruptcy.

Osbaston House had been remortgaged three times in a desperate bid to keep their millionaire image, the hearing heard.

Foster’s liabilities totalled £4.44m.

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