Inquest told of financial troubles

The financial background of the failed businessman was outlined by Detective Constable Paul Rogers, of Oswestry CID, who said Foster had set up his own business, Ulva, supplying and manufacturing oil pipes.

Speaking at the inquest on the 50-year-old, his wife Jill and 15-year-old daughter Kirstie in Shrewsbury today, Mr Rogers said Foster's business became "successful and lucrative" after moving to Hortonwood in Telford.

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The family moved to Allscott in Telford in 1995, when Kirstie went to Crudgington Primary School before moving to Prestfelde in Shrewsbury, he said.

Police believe Mr Foster killed his 49-year-old wife and 15-year-old daughter at their £1.2 million home in Maesbrook before setting fire to the property and committing suicide.

Their burnt bodies were found in Osbaston House days after the blaze in August last year.

Dr Alexander Jan Oldrich Kolar, a Home Office pathologist, who carried out the post mortem examination on the bodies also gave evidence at today's inquest.

He said he visited Osbaston House on August 29 at 12.10pm when spent cartridges were located in the driveway. He was unable to enter the property straight away due to health and safety concerns.

At 1.10pm it was considered safe to enter. Close to the entrance lobby, which was extensively covered in rubble, the torso of a human was found which was later identified to be that of Christopher Foster.

A further body was also there which was later identified to be that of Foster's wife Jill. Both bodies were removed and teeth were found which helped identify the bodies.

Dr Kolar said he was asked to return to Osbaston House on August 31 where further human remains had been found. They were identified as those of 15-year-old Kirstie.

He said an autopsy examination showed Christopher Foster was alive during the course of the fire and he could find no penetration injuries.

He concluded the cause of Christopher Foster's death was smoke inhalation. He said there was no evidence that he could find that he died as a result of a gunshot. He said however that he would have died in minutes.

Dr Kolar told the inquest that Mrs Foster had suffered a gunshot wound to the back right hand side of her skull. She had also suffered fractured bones from the heat of the fire.

The pathologist said her remains were so damaged she could only be identified through dental records.

Recording the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, he said tests revealed that she was shot while she was still alive. Her death would not have been immediate but she would have been unconscious as soon as she was shot.

A third party was involved in her death, Mr Kolar said. There was no indication she was alive during the fire.

He said Kirstie's body was so badly damaged the medical cause of death was unascertained but she had suffered a near identical gunshot wound to the head as her mother.

Mr Kolar said taking the situation as a whole and due to the almost identical location of the wound it was "highly likely that Kirstie died of a gunshot wound to the head".

Mr Kolar said toxicology tests showed no substance which could have caused the teenager's death and her medical records showed no natural illness.

There was no indication that she was alive during the blaze, he said.

He said he could not entirely exclude the possibility that her injuries were caused through falling debris but the wound to her skull was definitely suffered before she died.

He said the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted and a third party had to be involved. The coroner said Kirstie had fallen from the second floor of the property through to the cellar.

Doctor Simon Elliott, a toxicologist, said Christopher Foster had high levels of carbon monoxide in his system.

He said it was not possible to determine whether Mrs Foster had definitely been exposed to carbon monoxide prior to her death. Mr Rogers, from Oswestry CID, had earlier told the inquest that police systems were checked last August and again this morning and no reports of a break-in were made.

The Foster family's solicitor asked the detective if he had any knowledge of three men being "seen off the premises" in the early hours of the morning of the day the fire took place.

Mr Rogers said he was not aware of that but a colleague was investigating it

Today further claims were made that a lorry driver had seen suspicious people in the grounds of Osbaston House on the day of the tragedy but Mr Rogers said the only report they had was from lorry driver Peter Day, from Lloyds Animal Feeds, who was one of the first to report the fire after seeing it as he left the depot and headed towards Knockin.

Mr Ellery said inquiries were on-going about whether a second lorry driver had instead seen the men loitering.

The inquest was also shown interior images of the house before and after the fire. Images before the fire showed containers in the dining room which contained heating oil and oil soaked towels on the sideboard.

Detective Sergeant Darren Howells said that the oil tank at the back of the house by the stables and garage would have been nearly full on the day of the fire after Foster received a delivery in June.

The inquest also heard how an alarm system which detected movement through infra-red sensors was installed at the house. Mr Howells said there was evidence firearms had been discharged at the scene.

Mr Ellery told the family there would be no civil or criminal liability under the coroner's rules.