Context
Former Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Wenham led Cheshire Police’s Operation Hummingbird — the investigation of the Countess of Chester neonatal cluster — from its opening in May 2017. His Thirlwall Inquiry evidence is the principal public-record account of how the investigation was scoped, staffed, and advised. It is the counterpart, from the police side, of the anonymous whistleblower report released in December 2025.
Key ground
Former DCS Nigel Wenham
We opened Operation Hummingbird on the basis of the briefings provided by the consultants and the Trust’s senior leadership. Dr Dewi Evans approached us offering his expert services before we had formally approached him. We took up his offer.
Read alongside
The Hummingbird whistleblower report, Dr Dewi Evans’s trial testimony.