A CROWDFUNDING appeal has been set up for a family who "lost their home and everything they owned" in a fire that killed a former police officer.

Malcolm Baker, 60, died in the blaze at his thatched cottage in Brompton Regis on the evening of Wednesday, September 14. He is believed to have been the only person in the property at the time.

Neighbours reported a massive explosion that took the roof off the house.

Mr Baker, a retired Scotland Yard counter terror officer, is suspected of taking his own life as a result of problems in his home life.

The Sun reported that he cancelled his family's house insurance and emptied bank accounts he held with his wife Fran Onody in the days before the fire, which former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector called "a 'wicked act of spite to his partner and children".

Despite claims to the contrary, Mr Baker's estranged sister Phillipa Baker told The Mail: "I’m absolutely positive he wouldn’t take his own life, especially in that absolutely ghastly way."

Family friend Ruth Boyce has set up a Just Giving page that has so far raised more than £3,000 to support the Onody family.

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Ms Boyce said: "We're raising £5,000 to help the Onody family to rebuild their lives after they lost everything in their house fire.

"Our friends, the Onody family - Fran and her teenage children - have lost their home and everything they owned in a fire. Nothing is left.

"While special family possessions and childhood mementoes cannot be replaced, donations would help the family rebuild their lives.

"The donations will go directly to Fran, to pay for the things her family needs.

"Any money we raise over the target will also go to her, for example to replace items, for education expenses or time away as a family to help them recover."

Mr Baker worked on the 9/11 terror attacks in London and the Alexander Litvinenko poisonings, as well as the 7/7 London bombings during his 30-year police career.

He retired from the force ten years ago, when he moved to Somerset with his partner.

Avon and Somerset Police said they had referred his death to the Independent Office for Police Misconduct.

According to The Sun, they had previously made a visit to the house to investigate a domestic incident.

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