A BRUTAL double shotgun murder of a mother and her baby daughter could have been prevented had authorities not missed opportunities to intervene, a new report reveals.
Christine Chambers and her toddler Shania were murdered in Braintree in June 2011 by former partner David Oakes, 51, who died last year of cancer while serving a lifetime prison sentence.
Two years after their death an investigation by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board, published on Monday, has revealed that if the case had been "handled differently", there may have been a different outcome for the victims.
David Oakes, from Maldon, committed the killing of his ex-partner and their two-year-old daughter in Bartram Avenue as a bitter custody battle over the child was due to begin
After shooting dead Shania at point-blank range and having tortured and shot Christine, Oakes then turned the shotgun on himself, but survived despite blasting the side of his face apart.
The Serious Case Review Overview Report, which gives pseudonyms for both victims, concludes that while the torture and murder by Oakes was not predictable there were a number of opportunities for police and social services to intervene, which if handled differently could have resulted in Shania and Christine being considered more at risk and therefore given greater assistance.
It recommends that domestic abuse prevention work should be increased across Essex to develop a multi-agency response; improved training and the Safeguarding Board should work closely with Cafcass – who support children during court proceedings.
Simon Hart, independent chairman of Essex Safeguarding Children Board, said: "Improvements to the way domestic abuse is tackled in Essex are already underway as a result of the Whole Essex Community Budget work.
"The creation of a Domestic Abuse Board tasked with providing leadership to address domestic abuse across the geographical county of Essex shows that agencies understand communication between partners is key if we are to avoid another tragic loss. However, there is need to acknowledge that there are no simple solutions to a problem with a significant national context."
The case report comes in the same week as a new year-long pilot scheme is launched in Braintree to cut the number of domestic abuse victims.
Detective Chief Supt Simon Coxall, head of CID and public protection at Essex Police headquarters in Chelmsford, said: "A lot has changed since those awful events, certainly in terms of Essex Police and the way we conduct assessment of risk.
"I am confident this is a step in the right direction in dealing with this very pernicious issue, but I couldn't be so arrogant as to say we are never going to have anyone suffer as a result of domestic abuse, it's a widespread problem that occurs behind closed doors.
"One of the advantages is that quite understandably victims of this sort of crime are reluctant to discuss what's been happening with the police.
"With this improved multi-agency teamwork approach and information shared we hope to reduce any unnecessary delay and immediately bring to attention anyone at risk making all the intelligence about the situation available to all partner agencies so will have the capability to constantly improve and update our risk assessments."
The new pilot, that will operate in Braintree and Basildon, is part of the Whole Essex Community Budget Programme, and will see public sector agencies join with Essex County Council to invest resources and provide extra support to domestic abuse victims in both districts with funding for two Domestic Abuse Support Officers to support victims of in those districts.
Essex county councillor Dick Madden, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: "Reducing domestic abuse and supporting victims is a clear priority across the county.
"I hope that by increasing the amount of targeted support that we see a reduction in incidents and start to demonstrate that domestic abuse will not be tolerated in Essex."
The pilot will be directed at those victims considered high risk but who do not yet engage with support services, while it will also offer the opportunity to increase services provided to victims considered medium risk.
Based at Essex Police HQ, the scheme will involve reviewing victims' safety plans and identifying services to assist them in improving their personal situations, specifically in reducing their reliance on other services such as health and housing.
The pilot aims to engage with 600 victims by April 2014 and will be judged on the reduction of domestic abuse incidents, the number of repeat offences, and a reduction of victims going to A&E.