Toby CharnaudGAZETTE & HERALD: THE Chippenham family of murdered Thai bar owner Toby Charnaud hope to gain custody of his five-year-old son Daniel.

His father and sister flew to Thailand this week to help police with their investigations.

Mr Charnaud, 40, had been missing for six weeks when his burned remains were found near his home in the resort of Hua Hin at the beginning of May.

He moved to Thailand from West Kington, near Chippenham, in 1999 with his wife Pananda whom he met on holiday in the country.

Mr Charnaud had custody of his son, and lived with his former wife's sister and brother-in-law. They are now thought to be caring for the youngster.

Mr Charnaud's family are now applying for custody to bring Daniel back to Wiltshire, although it is expected to be a long and difficult battle.

His estranged wife and five men are in custody on suspicion of his murder.

His parents, Jeremy and Sarah Charnaud, still live in West Kington and he leaves three younger siblings, Hannah, Martha and Matt.

This week Mr Charnaud and Hannah Allan, who lives in Stanton St Quintin, were in Thailand sorting out his business affairs. They are due to fly home on Sunday.

Mrs Charnaud said the family had been frustrated with the lack of support they'd received from the British Government and Thai authorities.

She said: "We hired an utterly brilliant private investigator and if we hadn't, I don't think anything would have happened at all."

Yesterday the Charnaud family was dealt another blow with the news that Thai forensic police do not have the skills to identify Mr Charnaud's body and have asked for British forensic experts to help with DNA testing.

She said her son's estranged wife had been charged in relation to his murder.