Motive masquerades as animated civility…
Humanity cloaks its deceit in dignity…
Dragging skeletons out of the closet …teaching them to waltz
We dress them up in fancy clothes to disguise the bones
Ventriloquist dummies spout political nonsense …
With hinged mouth and vacant eyes…
Marionettes on invisible strings whirl with dizzying speed
Glittering jewels made of paste lay against flawless porcelain skin Rag doll frames covered in eyelet lace with gossamer trains The puppet master…… just another mime in a circus parade… Trapped in the box of his insignificance… pull the strings mimic the Words… empty faces fill desolate spaces… playacting at being alive Cold hearts… vacant stares…crank the handle… hear the song… Out pops Jack as if there is nothing wrong… Imported … exported Turned inside out… the scarecrow stands in the field… cast off clothes Stuffed full of straw …created for the task at hand… no shiny baubles Or trinkets adorn just a broom in his right hand…. hand puppets peek from Behind tiny curtains to entertain the youth of the age…. With Slapstick humor and homemade hearts… there are toy soldiers lined up in a row……….. Like time they are marching on…..

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Oakes, 50, shot Christine Chambers, 38, and Shania, two, at their Braintree home in June last year and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Essex police took ‘inadequate action’ to arrest him.

The police watchdog has found ‘failings’ in the case of David Oakes, who killed his ex-partner and daughter (PA)

He was sentenced to a whole-life term at Chelmsford crown court but the IPCC found there were ‘failings’ in the force’s contact with the family.

During the trial it emerged that the police had attended either his or Ms Chambers’s address at least six times during the two years leading up to the murders.

In response to the IPCC’s findings, the family of Ms Chambers said they felt the police could have done more.

The IPCC said: ‘There was a failure by police to recognise any pattern or connection between the events being reported.

‘In particular, there was a failure to identify or act upon the evident escalation in the number of Ms Chambers’ calls to the police during the two months prior to the murders.’

Essex police has responded to say it accepts the IPCC findings and has apologised ‘for the failures identified’.

A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of murder and Mr Justice Fulford ordered that he serve a whole life sentence for the ‘sadistic’ killings.

David Oakes will spend the rest of his life behind bars (PA)

The court heard that Oakes, 50, was upset Miss Chambers wanted to start a new life without him and decided to gain brutal revenge for her decision.

He planned his attack in detail and subjected his former partner to a series of painful assaults before blasting her and their daughter with a shotgun.

Mr Justice Fulford said: ‘These tragic and needless deaths occurred in deeply shocking circumstances.

‘A bullying and controlling man, who had frequently inflicted violence on Miss Chambers during the six years of their relationship, killed his ex-partner and their young daughter simply because he knew she could not bear to be with him and wished to start a new life.’

The judge said Oakes had ignored the needs of his daughter and instead decided to make sure no other man could act as Miss Chambers’ partner or Shania’s father.

‘He resolved that, if the family was at an end, that they would pay for leaving him with their lives and that their last hours of life would be terrifying and, in the case of Christine Chambers, extremely painful,’ he added.

Oakes did not attend court to hear the verdicts or discover his sentence.

David Oakes accused of shooting dead his former partner and their two-year-old daughter (Picture: PA)

David Oakes allegedly subjected Christine Chambers to ‘degrading assaults’ over several hours before blasting her and their daughter Shania with a shotgun.

Miss Chambers’s other daughter, who was ten at the time, escaped from the house and ran for help after the incident on June 6 last year.

Oakes, 50, and Miss Chambers had split up two months earlier after a ‘tempestuous’ six-year relationship, the court heard.

He arrived at the house with a double-barrelled shotgun, an axe, petrol and other implements, said prosecutor Orlando Pownall QC.

‘The defendant, fuelled by jealousy, frustrated by the fact that his relationship with Christine Chambers was over and that he would only have limited access to Shania, determined that he would kill them and himself,’ Mr Pownall told the court.

‘He succeeded in the first part of his ambitions but failed in his attempt on his own life.’

Oakes allegedly launched a ‘sustained’ attack on Miss Chambers, hitting the 38-year-old and forcing her to cut clumps of her own hair off, before shooting her several times.

Police were called to the scene in Braintree and heard several gunshots.Inside the house they found Shania, who had been shot in the forehead at point blank range, and her mother, who had been shot three times – in the thigh, knee and her right side, causing a ‘swathe of destruction’.

Oakes was treated in hospital for a gunshot injury following the incident, and later charged with two counts of murder, which he denies. The case at Chelmsford crown court continues.

Ms Chambers, 38, and Shania were found dead at their home in Bartram Avenue on June 6 , leaving the local community in a state of shock.

David Oakes has been charged with the double murder (PA)

Essex Police have been guarding Mr Oakes, 50, in a nearby hospital since the bodies were discovered.

He was discharged from hospital this morning and taken to a north Essex police station, where officers investigating the deaths charged him with two counts of murder.

Mr Oakes later appeared at Colchester Magistrates Court and was remanded in custody ahead of another hearing on Monday.

He appeared unsteady on his feet when he walked into court and had to be supported by two officers as he stood in the dock.

A number of wounds were visible on his face, which had plasters on the right side and a sizeable dressing on the left.

David Oakes has been named locally as the man being held in connection to the deaths of Christine Chambers and daughter Shania (Picture: SWNS)

The man, named locally as David Oakes, 50, was a former partner of Ms Chambers and was believed to be in the midst of a custody battle over the toddler.

He is currently ‘heavily sedated’ and under police guard at a nearby hospital after undergoing treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

Police have said they are not looking for anybody else in connection with the murders

According to the post-mortem on Ms Chambers and Shania the pair suffered other injuries during the attack.

A police spokeswoman said: ‘I can’t comment any further as this is part of an ongoing investigation.’

But residents living nearby said they heard screams and banging coming from inside the home before they were shot dead.

They were found dead following a stand-off between police and the gunman in Bartram Avenue on Monday morning.

Ian Flitt, Ms Chambers’ ex-partner and dad of her 10-year-old daughter Chelsea, who escaped the house to raise the alarm, paid tribute to her today.

He said: ‘She was a fantastic mother, always laughing and outgoing and just a brilliant mother. She always put the kids first.’

He called for answers as to why the police had not intervened earlier after it emerged Ms Chambers had lodged complaints for up to two years and as recently as 11 days before the death.

Christine Chambers and her daughter Shania were found shot dead in their house in Braintree (Picture: Eastnews Press Agency)

On May 27 Miss Chambers, 38, contacted Essex Police in the last of several statements given to the police over a two-year period, the Independent Police Complaints Commission indicated today as initial investigations into how the case was launched,

The mother-of-two and her two-year-old daughter were found dead yesterday after a standoff between police and a gunman inside their house in Bartram Avenue, Braintree.

The IPCC said it was ‘still collating’ previous contact between the police and Miss Chambers.

Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: ‘At this stage, it is too early to say whether police responded appropriately to each incident and this is something that will take time to establish, but we will make our findings public as soon as we are able.’

David Oakes, 50, is thought to be under police guard at a nearby hospital after undergoing treatment for non-life threatening injuries. He is a former partner of Miss Chambers.

Detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Oakes is Shania’s and the couple were fighting a legal battle over custody.

Stuart Flitt, Miss Chambers’ brother, had regularly stayed at the house to protect his sister after she received threatening texts.

He said: ‘The police didn’t seem to take her seriously and we feel they could have done more.’

Chelsea Flitt, Miss Chambers’ 10-year-old daughter, managed to escape from the house and alert the police.

Christine Chambers and her daughter Shania were found shot dead in their house in Braintree (Picture: Eastnews Press Agency)

The gunman, named locally as David Oakes, 50, was under guard in hospital last night with serious injuries.

Police were called at 3am but, according to neighbours, there were protracted negotiations before officers rushed inside at 4.45am after two shots were fired.

Anger at the police boiled over yesterday, with one man shouting at officers: ‘You knew this was going to happen, you could have stopped it.’

Chelsea’s father, Ian Flitt, 50, who lives nearby, was woken by his daughter who was screaming ‘he has gone mad with a gun’. He added both Ms Chambers and Chelsea had the barrel of the gun forced into their mouths but the mother urged her daughter to flee.

‘She said to her “Run, save yourself” – and that is what she did.’

Chelsea’s half-brother, Stuart, 26, said Ms Chambers had shown police more than 100 threatening texts from Oakes just a few days ago, adding police had been given ‘warning after warning’ about what could happen.

Ms Chambers and Oakes were due to attend a court hearing in Chelmsford yesterday over a custody battle.

Asst Ch Con Gary Beautridge, of Essex Police, said the force had voluntarily referred its handling of the case to the police watchdog to discover if there had been any ‘shortcomings’ by officers.

The alarm was raised by the woman’s young daughter, Chelsea (variously reported to be 8 or 10) who escaped by jumping from a first floor window at the start of the incident and ran to her father’s house nearby.

Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 3am and police officers shouted through the letterbox as they tried to persuade the gunman to give himself up.  At about 5.45am, neighbours said, two shots rang out and police stormed into the house.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said that David Oakes (50), reported to be the woman’s former partner and the father of Shania, was being kept under police guard in Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford while a double murder inquiry was opened. Nobody else is being sought.

Christine Chambers also had two sons, Guy Flitt (11) and Levi Bright (16). She
had been due to attend a family court in Chelmsford for a custody hearing on the day she died.

Ian Flitt (50) Chelsea’s father, alerted police after being woken at his nearby home by his distraught daughter. Mr Flitt said: “She started screaming ‘he is there at the house with a gun, he has put it into Chrissie’s mouth’ .” Mr Flitt added that Mr Oakes had also forced the gun into Chelsea’s mouth and placed it into his own. “He would have shot [Chelsea] too if he could. He put the gun in his mouth and was saying ‘shoot me’ .”

Christine Chambers urged Chelsea to escape. “She said to her, ‘run, save yourself’, and that is what she did,” said Mr Flitt. Christine also had two sons, Guy Flitt (11) and Levi Bright (16).

An ambulance spokesperson said: “East of England ambulance service crews were called at 3.16am to an address in Braintree to reports of serious injuries following a shooting incident. Sadly a woman and a child were found deceased on scene. A man was taken to hospital with injuries.” His gunshot injuries were not life-threatening.

A neighbour said: “I was woken up about 5am by the sound of dogs barking. There were loads of armed police outside. They had handguns and big rifles pointing at the front and back of the house. I heard the police shout that they might have to shoot. At about 5.45am the police went into the house, later I saw someone come out on a hospital bed.”

A friend who spoke to the Times described Christine as “a good mum”.  A neighbour Karen Ballisat told the BBC that Christine was “lovely, always laughing, a lovely lady”, while Shania was “a very happy, bubbly little girl”.

According to the BBC and the Times neighbours expressed concerns that police could have prevented the deaths. One reportedly shouted at police: “You knew this was going to happen.”

A neighbour who declined to be named, said: “She had called the police before on several occasions and there had been a lot of problems in the past…. We knew she was worried about what might happen to her and it seemed she was living in fear.”

Donna Garrod (20), also a neighbour, told the Times newspaper “Dave was really intimidating,” adding “He had threatened to kill Shania. It was a few weeks ago and they had rowed and he warned Chrissie that he was ready to hurt their daughter.” Ms Garrod said that the couple had been in a relationship for about six years but had split up a number of times — most recently about seven weeks ago. “If she tried to finish it he would get emotional and violent,” said Ms Garrod. “They had been rowing for months. Dave had started knocking her around in front of the children. He got Chrissie by the back of her hair and dragged her from the neighbour’s house. He brought her into the street and was screaming ‘Tell me you love me,’ in front of the children. After that she had to go to the hairdressers to have her hair cut short [because] he left her with bald patches.”

Oakes is believed to have moved to a caravan in Southminster, Essex, after the couple’s most recent split. Ms Garrod said that Christine had obtained a court order preventing her former partner from coming within 100 yards of her or their daughter.

Police have started an inquiry into the handling of the complaints. Gary Beautridge, assistant chief constable of Essex Police, said that the force was aware of a “number of incidents” during “two years of contact”, adding: “It’s too early to say things were done in the wrong way.”

Ms Chambers is thought to have given police more than 100 threatening or abusive text messages from Mr Oakes. Mr Flitt said officers had had “warning after warning” about what could happen.

Gary Beautridge told a press conference that a shotgun had been recovered from the scene. He said a post-mortem examination on Ms Chambers and her daughter would take place later to determine how they died. He confirmed they were found dead by police who had been called to the scene at about 03.00 am. He did not deny reports that armed officers did not enter the house for almost two hours.

Mr Beautridge paid tribute to the “absolute bravery” of Ms Chamber’s older daughter, who escaped out of a back window.

He acknowledged there had been two years of contact between the police, the family and Oakes.

Mr Beautridge added there would now be a “full and fundamental review into the circumstances surrounding this contact”.

Given that there had been previous contact over a two year period and serious injuries had already been reported, it is unclear to FOD why it took two hours for police officers to storm the premises. Police refused to say if Ms Chambers and her daughter were alive while armed officers waited outside.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is expected to open an inquiry into Essex Police’s response.

Note: This report was compiled from information reported by the BBC and in the Times newspaper.

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