A double murder trial has been told how a “significant” number of texts were exchanged between a man and his former partner in the weeks leading up to her death.

The court heard that four different phones attributed to David Oakes sent a total of 1,607 text messages between April 21 and June 6, with “a significant proportion” being sent to his ex-partner Christine Chambers.

Miss Chambers, 38, and the couple’s two-year-old daughter, Shania, were found dead at Miss Chambers’ home in Bartram Avenue, Braintree, on June 6.

Oakes, 50, of Steeple, denies two counts of murder.

Essex Police criminal intelligence analyst Colin Robinson, who analysed billing information from phones belonging to both Oakes and Miss Chambers, as well as data from Oakes’ phones, told the court that it was not possible to retrieve all the texts.

Data from Miss Chambers’ phone could not be retrieved either.

The texts that were retrieved contained discussions on June 5 about the return of Shania to Braintree at a previously arranged time of 7pm.

Asked by Richard Connolly, defending, if the texts from Oakes were aggressive or if he threatened any physical violence, Mr Robinson replied “no”. He also accepted that a “large number of texts” had been sent by Miss Chambers to Oakes.

Mr Connolly said: “This is not a story where the texting is entirely one way is it?”

Mr Robinson replied: “No, they had text conversations.”

He added: “It’s fewer, but it’s still substantial.”

Signals from Oakes’s phone the day before the bodies were discovered were also closely examined in an attempt to retrace his movements, indicating he had spent the majority of the afternoon at his home at the Steeple Bay caravan park, in Canney Road, Steeple, before travelling to Braintree to drop off Shania.

The signals indicate he then headed to the Sible Hedingham area.

The jury of seven men and five women at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday were also shown images of various blood-stained items within the house and told how swabs of blood had provided DNA matches to both Miss Chambers and Oakes.

Among the blood-stained areas of the house were the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink and a light switch.

DNA matching both Chambers and Oakes was also found on various parts of a shotgun discovered at the house.

The trial continues.