Police spend £560k on investigating fire tragedy

POLICE have spent more than half a million pounds investigating a fire where a father and five children died.

David Cuthbertson, 68, died in the fire at a Llangammarch Wells farmhouse, in Powys, alongside boys Just Raine, 11, and Reef Raine, 10, and nine-year-old girl Misty Raine.

In December, police confirmed that the identity of a fifth body recovered from the scene was that of six-year-old Patch Raine. Police said at the time that a sixth body had been recovered from the scene but had not yet been formally identified.

Police have previously said that they were working on the hypothesis that five children were unaccounted for after the fire.

Three children – aged 10, 12 and 13 – managed to escape the fire and were released from hospital in November.

In a finance report into DyfedPowys Police’s precept and budget for 2018-19, by Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, it has been revealed that £560,000 has already been spent on the investigation, with the cost likely to rise.

The report said: “2017/18 has been a challenging year in terms of finances. The Force has had to deal with a significant and complex fire investigation at a remote property near Llangammarch Wells.

“Costs of £560k have already been committed to date in relation to this operation (Operation Heath).

“The operation in ongoing and therefore the final cost that is covered by a reserves transfer is likely to rise further before the end of the 2017/18 financial year.”

Dyfed-Powys Police said they would not be commenting on the cost of the investigation.