side to her personality. and it was interesting to get her messages because precisely you could see how hypocritical she was pretending to be very good friends with the nurse and a few messages later on she was calling her incompetent and, you know, undermining everybody in the unit certainly was very gracious to her management who were extremely supportive of her and yet spent her time denigrating her management, saying that there was poor skill mix every single time that she was on shift. all of this provided perfect cover for what she was doing because people thought, "well, yes, it's true. we we all being stretched". "we have babies that have special needs, but it's difficult needs," but it's difficult for people. devious personalities have to look the part. that's not that's not true. and that definitely wasn't true. she looked like the girl next door who liked betting on horses, enjoyed herjob, was trying to be one of the best. but it's all about control. i've rarely come across a personality who is as self—centred as she was all about herself, the power she was granting herself of life and death over the babies at her. mercy. mercy she didn't show any. that was passed becausejohn speaking to our reports are. it was worth a it saying if you are hearing and watching what we've been reporting on. if you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, information and support is available via the bbc action line, you can find that online or via the bbc news app. you will find a list of organisations that can give you advice and support and give you help if you have, understandably, found this story particularly distressing today. you're watching bbc news i am anna foster live at manchester crown court the date lucy letby is was found guilty of murdering seven babies in her care and attempting to murder six more, babies in her care and attempting to murdersix more, it babies in her care and attempting to murder six more, it makes her the most notorious and prolific shows are killer of children in recent uk history. it is a shocking case that has shocked the book not only who have been here through the trial listening to the evidence but also with the families at the heart of it and the medical profession. it is such a rare thing that someone working in hospital moves from being a carer, saving lives, to someone taking them. that is what lucy letby was doing after time in the neonatal unit at the countess chester hospital. the court heard about the way she killed these berries or try to kill their babies in her care using innocuous subsidies like milk or insulin orair, using innocuous subsidies like milk or insulin or air, the things that should've brought life, lucy letby was to it to take life away. she will be sentenced at manchester crown court by the justice. it is worth saying she did not appear for the finalfew verdicts. worth saying she did not appear for the final few verdicts. the first vertex when she was found guilty of murder she sobbed in the box, but these verdicts were delivered over four different hearings and the last two hearings, lucy letby chose not to appear and the suggestion is she will not appear on monday and when the impact statement is read out and the impact statement is read out and thejudge delivers his remarks, lucy letby will not be here to hear them. this has been a long and notorious case. she thought she'd get away with it, but this was the moment the game was up. lucy, is it? my name is...with the cheshire police. do you mind if i step in for two seconds? yes. thank you. behind the door of this ordinary suburban house, britain's most prolific baby killer was finally arrested three years after her murder spree began. just take a seat there for me, lucy. i'll move that seat forward a bit. i've just had knee surgery. 0h, right, 0k. she worked here, on the neonatal unit at the countess of chester hospital. her role — to care for the most premature and vulnerable infants, but that couldn't have been further from her mind. the crying, i've never heard anything like it since. it was screaming. it was screaming, and i was like, "what's the matter with them?" legally, we can't identify the families in this case, but the stories are distressing. these are the parents of twin boys born prematurely in 2015. their mum was taking milk to them when she heard one of her sons crying loudly. he had blood round his mouth. and lucy was there, but faffing about and not really doing anything. lucy said, "don't worry, the registrar was coming." and then she told me to go back to the ward. the baby's mum left him in this intensive care area and went to call her husband. they thought their son was in safe hands with nurse letby, but a short time later, they were told he was dangerously ill and they rushed back to find doctors trying to save him. we were taken in, and we were told to talk to him and hold his hand. and then... ..we had a conversation with the consultant, and he said, "you know what, we're going to stop because it's not helping. we want him to die in your arms." on the unit, there were typically up to three deaths a year, but in 2015, they had that number in the month ofjune alone. and the pattern continued, with babies dying or coming close to death. the common factor — lucy letby. this staffing sheet shows she was the only employee who was present every time there was a suspicious event. dr stephen brearey led the team of seven consultants on the unit who shared joint concerns about letby. he's now speaking publicly about their experience for the first time. it's something that nobody really wants to consider, you know, that a member of staff might be harming the babies under your care. things came to a head when two out of three healthy triplets died within 2a hours of each other injune 2016. afterwards, a meeting was held for staff. lucy letby was there. she was sitting next to me. i spoke to her and said how tired and upset she must be after two days of this, and i hoped that she was going to have a restful weekend. and she turned to me and said, "no, i'm back on shift tomorrow." the other staff were very traumatised by all of this. we were crumbling before your eyes, almost, and she was quite happy and confident to come into work. lucy letby was eventually moved to a clerical role. the doctors kept trying to get managers to investigate the suspicious deaths and her connection to them. but we can now reveal that even though consultants here repeatedly made loud warnings to senior management, they say they were ignored and ultimately told that if they didn't stop raising questions about the nurse, there'd be consequences. and the doctors say that even after lucy letby came off duty on the neonatal unit, executives tried to draw a line under the case, and it was only a year after she stopped working as a nurse that the police became involved. after her arrest, officers found all sorts of items in her bedroom — babies' medical records, her diary and notes covered in letby�*s scrawl, with phrases including, "i am evil. i did this." she is a killer, and using her words, she is evil. _ you've spent time interviewing her and watching her in court, as well, giving evidence. yes. what do you make of her? i think she's very emotionless. she doesn't respond to a typical human response that _ i would've expected. did you have concerns that there was a rise in the mortality rate? yes. there was no empathy or sympathy with what's gone on at all. - i mean, there are people who look at her and say there's no way she can have done this. it's circumstantial evidence. she looks as though butter wouldn't melt. it's an example to us all of not judging a book by its cover. i we've got to accept, you know, and understand the evidence i in this case has been, i believe, significant, | and it has taken us to understand that lucy letby is a killer. - as the trial ended today, letby refused to come into the courtroom. prosecutors later reflecting on the scale of her deceit. in her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk or medication like insulin would become lethal. she perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. the nurse even wrote this sympathy card to the parents of one baby and searched for many of the other families on facebook. not a single thing that i've ever seen or witnessed of lucy would let me for a moment believe that she was capable of the things she was being accused of. dawn is one of lucy letby�*s childhood friends and has watched events unfold with disbelief. she is the kindest person that i've ever known. she would only ever want to help people. you seem utterly unshakeable on this, but isn't it possible that she's fooled you all? unless lucy turned around and said, "i'm guilty," i will never believe that she's guilty. the families of letby�*s victims still have to live with unanswered questions, including what her motive was. i want her to be locked up, and i neverwant her to come out again. because what she's done has changed the course of our life forever. lucy letby had many faces — party girl, graduate, bright young nurse. but each face was a mask for evil hiding in plain sight, and at last her cover has slipped. lucy letby will now be known as one of britain's most notorious criminals. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. asjudith was sitting there, these series of verdicts raise questions, not least about the care at the countess of chester hospital on the neonatal unit where lucy letby was carrying out her crimes. this trail covered a one—year period between june 2015 to june covered a one—year period between june 2015 tojune 2016, but we heard in the afternoon that other places like the repose women's hospitals are working at cheshire police looking at the periods of time where she did training placements there, the envy of this investigation is widened to look at her whole career. and the questions also about why concerns raised about lucy were not looked at soon? 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes is outside the countess of chester hospital. he has more reaction on what the hospital's current administration had to say about today's verdict. the current medical director, dr nigel scawn, he came out and made a statement. he didn't take any questions, but he did say that the hospital board were extremely sorry for what had happened. he said there has been a profound impact on the community, on staff and on patients. he said that staff were devastated by what had happened. he said lessons continued to be learned. he was grateful for the staff cooperating with both the inquiry and the trial for giving evidence at the trial. he thanked the police for the care that they had shown to the investigation and also for the support they gave to the families involved. and he thanked them, also, for the support to those families. and he said, "since lucy letby worked here", he said, we have made significant changes and we want to reassure everyone who accesses care and treatment here that those changes have been made". and he finally said that their thoughts were with families and loved ones at this time. so that was from dr nigel scawn, the medical director at the countess of chester hospital. we've also heard from the former medical director who was here at the time when lucy letby was here and committed those absolutely dreadful murders and attempted murders of which she's now been found guilty. and we've heard also from the former chief executive at the trust, tony chambers. he said, "all my thoughts are with the children at the heart of this case and their families and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time". he said, "i'm truly sorry for what all the families have gone through. he said, "the crimes that have been committed are appalling and i am deeply saddened by what came to light". now this is the key bit, he said, "as chief executive, my focus was on the safety of the baby unit and the wellbeing of patients and staff. i was open and inclusive as i responded to information and guidance". he said the trial and the lengthy police investigation have shown the complex nature of the issues involved. he said, "there are always lessons to be learnt and the best place for this to be achieved would be through an independent inquiry". he said, "i will cooperate fully and openly with the independent inquiry which has now been ordered by the government". and we know the government ordered that inquiry very soon after those verdicts were given. and we heard from the health minister, helen whately, and she said there are serious questions that still need to be answered. the important thing here is that something like this must never happen again and of course the nhs must learn lessons. that's why the government is launching an inquiry to make sure that all the lessons that can be learned will be learned, and that all possible action is taken so that this can never happen again. i particularly asked about the question about statutory versus non statutory. one of the things here is actually to make sure that this can be done at pace action taken quickly and a non—statutory inquiry is one that can happen more quickly and be more flexible to answer the questions that need to be answered. that is health minister helen whitely speaking a little earlier this afternoon. dominique, she talked there at the end. dominic, she talked there at the end. i think she had addressed something that people would pick up on in a case like this, which is the length of time that these inquiries often take. they are useful. they can be rich in detail, but they are not quick. and obviously some of the failings that have been exposed in this case, people will wonder, new parents, prospective parents will wonder about the safety of neonatal units up and down the country. what is happening to make sure that these places are immediately safe? yeah. i think there's a clear emphasis, isn't there, in trying to get answers for families quickly, particularly around this case, but also to provide that kind of reassurance that you speak of for otherfamilies in other units. we should stress this is an extremely rare occurrence. you know, it's vanishingly rare that this kind of thing happens, that these dreadful murders and attempted murders and assaults on children would take place. but when it does happen, it causes so much distress and, obviously, anxiety forfamilies who find themselves using facilities like this. so they want to provide that reassurance. but we know that there are moves under way to improve neonatal care. for example, the use of data that will show up red flags when there is an unexpected spike in the number of children who are dying in these units. you know, these are very, very vulnerable children. a lot of them are very sick when they come into these neonatal units. and if there is a spike in the data, then that should be acted on and looked into. now, the great tragedy of what happened here at the countess of chester was the staff did notice spikes in deaths. they did try and act on it. they did try and raise it, we're told, with senior management. but the great tragedy is that they say they weren't listened to. they weren't heard. that is dominic use our health correspondent was about the day outside countess of chester hospital where the crimes were committed in the neonatal unit by lucy letby. the trial here, i have heard so much evidence spread over a period of nine months, it was nine months today since the opening statements made, since a jury was sent out to reach their deliberations and verdicts on the 10th ofjuly. we spoke earlier to former chief crown prosecutor, nazir afzal on what today's convictions will mean for the families affected by letby�*s crime. he reflected on the burden for the family and the importance of delivering justice for the families, something he did for many years in hisjob, and he spoke something he did for many years in his job, and he spoke about what motivates individuals in a case like this. absolutely essential that people are able to see justice being done. it doesn't offer closure. it offers some comfort to know that the person responsible for their loss will finally face the consequences of their behaviour. first and foremost, this is a tragedy for those who...the families of those children who were killed seven or eight years ago now. and it's essential that their trauma is recognised. it's essential that their loss is accepted and understood because that's important. it's a human story. and the whole point of the justice system and this case, like the one that we dealt with ourselves ten years ago, was immensely complex. you've got to be able to demonstrate that the children did not die of natural causes. you've got to be able to show that nefarious means we used. what lucy letby did was she weaponized air, insulin, milk, things that ordinarily would give life. she weaponized them to cause death. and that made it very difficult. and that's why there were thousands of pages of medical evidence and expert evidence that had to be presented to the jury in this case. and the jury had to listen to 145 days of evidence and ultimately assess and sift all that to come to their verdicts. very complex case, which has had the right outcome, but absolutely essential for the families that this is what happened. they were clearly a diligent and thoughtfuljury. it was the 22nd day of their deliberations today. and, in fact, they'd spent more than 110 hours discussing these various counts that lucy letby was charged with. in terms of the defense case, they talked about all of this being circumstantial evidence. just talk us through what that means in practice and how the prosecution actually counteracted that. yeah, well, direct evidence, which is a case... in most cases, you have direct evidence, i.e., a witness sees a harm b. you didn't have that in this case. what you had was situational evidence, circumstantial evidence. you had b being harmed. and a, the only person that was in the room when b was harmed was lucy letby on every occasion. and so what you were saying is that one might be a coincidence, two might be unlucky, but when we're talking about several, a dozen or more incidents, there can only be one explanation, namely that she was responsible for the harm that was caused. circumstantial evidence is no, it has the same weight as direct evidence. and in this case, it's absolutely compelling that lucy letby was responsible. but, you know, thejury have to be taken through that. we've got to, as complicated as the case is, for ordinary members of the public, you've got to explain it in such a way that they get it, that they understand what's going on here. and that was a real challenge, but brilliantly done by the police and prosecutors in this case and with the judge who made sure that the jury were totally on the case and understood what was going on. and they were very diligent, thejury. i mean, thejury, 12 members of the public coming off the street and applying their minds to this complicated case. one cannot underestimate the skill with which they applied their minds to the evidence. nazir afzal is a former chief crown prosecutor for the north—west of england. talking about the evidence as we were, one thing that did not emerge during the trial is what drove lucy letby to do this? what was her motivation or trigger for entering a caring profession to try and help some of the most small and sick and vulnerable babies, and then murder the children in her care? earlier i spoke to dr naomi murphy, who is a consultant clinical forensic psychologist, about her potential motive. there are any number of reasons why health care professionals might ask out and kill. there has been a number of people who have done it. i believe that the nhs close —— i don't believe that the nhs culture creates that but we have seen in other organisations where there may be an issue. possible motives that stand out is perhaps the need to be the most comforting and supportive nurse, kind of a saviour, which would confer special status but also the envy of the family unit and destroying parents. 0ne striking thing in this case is the preoccupation with the families and seeking them out on facebook. another reason why health care professionals might kill, as an act of mercy, call dinesh norris killed elderly people because he did not like them but the salience of their interactions with the family seems quite striking in this case.- quite striking in this case. there's also been a _ quite striking in this case. there's also been a real— quite striking in this case. there's also been a realthreat_ quite striking in this case. there's also been a real threat of- quite striking in this case. there's also been a real threat of what . also been a real threat of what we've seen discussed here. the way she was able to hide what she was doing and the prosecution spoke of this cloak of normality and the worst of crimes that she was carried out. even when suspicion started to be raised people said lucy letby was kind, and shouldn't be able to hide something so well. i have spent 20 years working with people who have committed acts of murder and actually i don't find that all that i think psychologically healthier people do not kill. it is the act of somebody who is disturbed and typically what happens is there is a disconnect from the emotional self, so an inability to really connect at a deep level with their emotions. so it is not that surprising that somebody may appear to be presenting like nothing is wrong. which is not to say that there wouldn't be points where they would have been a break in that mask but i don't think it is that surprising she was able to hold it together at work. and what about, again a crucial part of the evidence were those notes that were found in her home, where she had written in very small scrawled writing, very tightly spaced on pieces of paper, lots of words, names of pets but also things like, "i am evil, i did this, help". what does this say about her state of mind? i think with all the people i've worked with no one ever truly wants to kill. even if there is a moment of a build—up to that, i think it doesn't sit comfortably with the person for the whole of the time. so i think clearly there was a part of lucy letby that regretted some of the actions but that was obviously clearly very shallow and very fleeting. one of the things that shocked me in the case was actually the closeness of the incidents to one another. so when people have killed on multiple occasions it is not unusual for people to kill and then go into a period of regret and remorse and a desire never to do it again before doing it again. it is quite hard to see that in lucy letby�*s case because there are so many incidents over a relatively short period. and as you say, in some cases, particularly with the attempted murders, she made more than one attempt on a child's life in a single day. in some cases she tried and failed and came back and tried again hours later. absolutely. one of the speculations that has been around is has she experienced practitioners disorder, that idea that you would harm a child or yourself in order to get attention. but actually these children were often in a state of recovery, there was not a concern about whether they were going to survive. and the sense of going back repeatedly attacking the children suggests a degree of thrill and excitement about the act of killing. doctor, thank you very much indeed forjoining us, doctor naomi murphy. what she spoke about what some of the distressing evidence that we heard about. incredibly sick and premature babies who were in some cases doing well and inexplicably took this turn and collapsed in some cases. medics managed to survive them and of course we know in many cases they died. and thinking about the parents and families of those children who are to experience that but then had to sit through this trial and relieve their darkness of moments to ensure justice was served. i spoke earlier to carolyn cheatham. she has been watching lots of the evidence given in court and spent some time describing the impact it had on the psalmist. the breach of trust on every level is beyond comprehension. not just those families who we just heard from there that the parents of those twins. you know, a lot more parents that we've spoken to, the parents of baby l and baby m or the twins, both of whom survived, not just the massive breach of trust of these children and theirfamilies, their parents, their grandparents. but the colleagues, you know, anyone who has had experience of a neonatal unit knows these nurses and doctors are life—savers.