Dodgy Director Torched his Family by Flooding Mansion with Oil

HE PROWLED, he planned, he did everything under the sun to ensure there were no survivors. Then, in front of his own security cameras, the millionaire businessman Christopher Foster gesticulated in defiance and disappeared off-camera, apparently to kill his wife and daughter, then himself.

It was reported in London's Telegraph yesterday that Christopher Foster burnt his house down by using the very business expertise that made his millions: he created a network of pipes through which he flooded his house with oil.

Foster, 50, owned a company called Ulva Ltd, which made a fortune selling pipe insulation technology to the oil and gas industries.

He laid his own pipes from a huge tank supplying his oil-run central heating system and ran them to the stables, garage and main house.

He then ran the oil off and used it as an accelerant to ensure the £1.2 million property was razed.

Closed-circuit TV footage has helped resolve the mystery of the burnt mansion, a grisly story that has transfixed Britain for nearly a week as the tale of the millionaire businessman who could not face losing his luxury lifestyle slowly emerged.

Police believe Foster took an hour to shoot his wife and 15-year-old daughter and the family's pets - three horses and four dogs - before setting fire to the mansion and killing himself.

The footage suggests Foster, 50, knew his security cameras were rolling as, armed with a .22 calibre rifle, he stalked through Osbaston House in Shropshire.

The cameras, placed around the house, escaped the flames. Police suggested Foster might have deliberately left the tape running to record the fire.

The horrifying events began in the early hours of last Tuesday morning. Foster is seen driving a horse float to the mansion's gates before shooting the tyres, blocking the entrance to emergency vehicles.

London newspapers reported that detectives believed Foster had suffered a breakdown as he faced bankruptcy, with business debts of almost £2 million, choosing to murder the family and destroy their home rather than hand it to his creditors.