Lucy Letby, of Arran Avenue in Hereford, has been found guilty of seven counts of murder.

The 33-year-old has also been found guilty of seven counts of attempted murder.

She has been remanded into custody and is due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 21.

Deputy senior investigating officer, detective chief inspector Nicola Evans, said: “Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case.

“Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents – and wider family members – has been overwhelming.

“Today is all about them – and we must not lose sight of that. I cannot begin to imagine how the families in this case feel today. We will all take some time to reflect on today's verdict both the guilty and the not guilty verdicts.

“I would like to say thank you to the families for putting their trust in us and I hope that this process has provided them with some of the answers they have been waiting for. We will continue to work closely with each of the families in the days and weeks ahead in order to ensure they have the support they all require in light of everything they have experienced.

“My thoughts – and those of the whole prosecution team – remain with them at this incredibly difficult time.

“The details of this case are truly crushing. A trained nurse responsible for caring and protecting tiny, premature babies; a person who was in a position of trust, she abused that trust in the most unthinkable way.

“I cannot begin to understand what the families have had to endure over the past seven or eight years but we have been humbled by their composure and resilience throughout this whole process.”

In early May 2017, The Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust contacted Cheshire Constabulary regarding neonatal services at the hospital. This was in relation to a greater number of baby deaths and non-fatal collapses than normally expected during the period of June 2015 and June 2016.

As a result, Cheshire Constabulary launched an investigation called Operation Hummingbird. This initially focused on the deaths of eight babies between June 2015 and June 2016 where medical practitioners at the hospital had expressed concern.

In addition, the investigation also conducted a review of a further seven baby deaths and six non-fatal collapses during the same period.

As time went on and further information came to light the scope of the investigation widened and further cases were reviewed.

Senior investigating officer, detective superintendent Paul Hughes, said: “This has been a highly complex and extremely sensitive investigation over the past six years. We had to go right back to the start, keeping an open mind and being careful not to draw any conclusions. The last thing we expected to find was a suspect responsible for these deaths and non-fatal collapses. It was a long, drawn-out process but no stone was left unturned. We had to do it right – not rush it.

“This has been an investigation like no other – in scope, complexity and magnitude. We had to deal with this as 17 separate investigations – we are normally used to dealing with one murder or attempted murder investigation at a time let alone something on this scale.

“What started out as a team of eight quickly increased and, at the height of the investigation, featured almost 70 officers and civilian staff working together – in a bid to unearth the answers that the families so desperately deserved.

“Turning up at the home of a family who have lost a baby, grieved for their loss and are trying to move on from that is difficult enough. But having to tell them that someone who was meant to be caring for their little one could ultimately be responsible for their death – is not an easy task.

“I want to say thank you to the whole investigation team in recognition of all of their dedication and hard work – without you we wouldn’t be in this position today.”

Over the past six years the investigation team has been building a strong case for court – and this has been a huge task. 32,000 pages of evidence were gathered and medical records running into thousands of pages were sifted through.

Around 2,000 people were spoken to, with almost 250 identified as witnesses by the prosecution to potentially give evidence during the trial.

Strategic lead for the investigation, detective superintendent Simon Blackwell, said: “We had to enlist the help of multiple medical experts to ensure that we carried out as thorough an investigation as possible. There was a lot of complicated, medical evidence that needed examining. We are experienced detectives, not medical professionals, so we needed specialist advice and support. This was a mammoth task as one medical record alone was 8,000-pages.

“All of the medical experts were key to our case and we will forever be grateful for their assistance and the time and effort that they have given to supporting the investigation."

As work continued behind the scenes to gather evidence, a suspect was formally identified and on July 3, 2018, Letby was arrested at her home in Chester. She was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives and was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries.

This was followed by two further arrests – one in June 2019 and another in November 2020 – in total she was arrested three times in the space of just over two years.

During those arrests around 30 hours of video interviews were captured as Letby was asked to give her recollection of each event.

Enquiries continued during this time and on 10 November 2020 Letby was rearrested in Hereford.

One day later, she was charged with eight counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letby pleaded not guilty to all charges at a hearing at Manchester Crown Court in October 2021.

In June 2022, Letby had one not guilty verdict recorded for one of the murder charges. It meant that when she went on trial last year, she faced seven murder charges and 10 attempted murder charges.

Det supt Hughes, said: “When we first launched our investigation in May 2017, we recognised that it would have a significant impact on everyone involved given the subject matter – including the families of the babies, staff and patients at the hospital and the wider public.

“We have had to navigate that over a number of years and ensure that everyone involved has been kept fully updated and has received the relevant advice and support to help them through the process.

“We always said that we were committed to carrying out our investigation as quickly as possible – however, in order to ensure that no stone was left unturned this ended up being a detailed and painstaking process."

If you have any information that you would like to pass onto the investigation team please get in touch via the Operation Hummingbird mailbox at Operation.Hummingbird.Public.Contact@cheshire.police.uk

Information can also be passed on by calling 101 and asking for Cheshire Constabulary or anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.