Our live coverage of the sentencing of Virginia McCullough at Chelmsford Crown Court is being brought to a close.

In an upsetting hearing, Mr Justice Johnson detailed the extreme lengths McCullough, now 36, went to in murdering her parents and the subsequent cover-up.

Image source, Essex Police

The judge handed down a minimum term of 36 years, as part of a life sentence.

"You think more of money than you do of humanity," the judge said while outlining how dangerous he found McCullough to be.

Full coverage is below, with a summary of the sentencing here.

Paul Hastings, a greengrocer at the Vineyards shopping centre near the McCullough family home, told the BBC he noticed Lois and John McCullough had stopped visiting his shop in late 2019.

He said McCullough told him that her parents were no longer living in Great Baddow.

However, he said McCullough started to make some unusual comments in 2023.

"She came in to the shop and said 'The police are after me, they think I killed my mum and dad'," Mr Hastings said.

"I thought 'That’s a bit odd' but didn’t think anything else of it, I just thought it was her eccentric nature."

He explained McCullough would sometimes visit his shop four times a day, before disappearing for the next fortnight.

Prior to sentencing, the BBC spoke to Phil Sargeant, who lived next door to the McCulloughs for 20 years.

"The curtains were always drawn and you couldn't see if anybody was in the house," he said.

"They were just like shadows, they'd move very quickly from A to B."

Mr Sargeant now knows why there was such secrecy at the house on Pump Hill in Great Baddow.

"I find it quite difficult even to say that Virginia murdered her parents or killed her parents," he added.

"She’d come across as quite pleasant; she was funny; she was irreverent as well.

"She had a dark sense of humour."

Mr Sargeant features in the footage you can see by clicking on the blue "Watch live" button at the top of this page.

Essex Police have released bodycam footage worn by officers as they arrested Virginia McCullough in 2023.

Image source, Essex Police

Sentencing Virginia McCullough, Mr Justice Johnson said she "span and maintained" an "elaborate, extensive and enduring web of deceit" over more than four years.

The judge said he was sure the offences involved a "substantial degree of both pre-meditation and planning".

He said over a period of three months, McCullough "accumulated a large amount of prescription drugs" and in May 2019 she "bought a knife as well as implements to crush and separate tablets".

"These were considered acts of aggression following months of thought and planning," the judge said.

Watch reports from the BBC News channel by clicking on the "Watch live" button at the top of this page.

It includes interviews with Essex Police, a neighbour and a shopkeeper who remembers Lois McCullough and the daughter who killed her.

In case you're only just joining us, here is how Virginia McCullough was caught.

Essex Police was contacted in September 2023 by Essex County Council's safeguarding team.

A GP at John and Lois McCullough's registered practice had raised a concern for their welfare, having not seen them for some time.

The GP explained that Mr McCullough, 70, had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments.

Image source, Steve Huntley/BBC

It was further revealed Virginia McCullough frequently cancelled his appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.

At that stage, a missing persons investigation began.

McCullough then lied to police when initially contacted, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.

Due to officers' suspicions, it was deemed a murder inquiry and police executed a warrant to enter and search the family home on Pump Hill in Great Baddow on the edge of Chelmsford.

More on our last post just now...

Virginia McCullough confessed to attending police officers she had murdered her parents. She then directed officers to their bodies.

Lois McCullough had been wrapped in a sleeping bag and hidden in an upstairs wardrobe.

John McCullough was buried inside a "makeshift mausoleum" in his downstairs study.

Their daughter, Virginia, had been living alongside their bodies for four years, having murdered them in June 2019.

Image source, Essex Police

Having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, Virginia McCullough told a police officer what had happened, but added: "I know I don’t seem 100% evil."

At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a "murder weapon", and a hammer that she warned "will still have blood on it".

Image source, Steve Huntley/BBC

Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), external says it has been a "truly disturbing case" which has left "a trail of devastation".

"McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address," she says.

"She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents' money and accruing large debts in their name.

"Working with the police we built a strong prosecution case to show the level of McCullough’s deceit both before and after the killings."

Image source, Essex Police

Another one of the images shared by Essex Police, external shows Virginia McCullough in a custody cell.

Footage seen by the BBC shows her beginning to cry when telling officers where one of her murder weapons - a hammer - is hidden.

Image source, Essex Police

Essex Police has also shared images from the moment Virginia McCullough was arrested at the family home.

They rammed through the back door of the property on Pump Hill, Great Baddow, and immediately located the 36-year-old.

McCullough tells officers: "Cheer up, at least you've caught the bad guy."

The defendant went on to make a number of significant admissions to the police, including confessing to the murder of her parents.

Image source, Essex Police

Image source, Essex Police

Det Supt Rob Kirby has also just given a statement on behalf of Essex Police.

He says the case had horrified even the most senior of murder detectives.

On Virginia McCullough (picture above), he says: "Her actions were considered, meticulous and carried out in such a way as to conceal what she had done for as long as possible.

"These were the actions of someone who had taken time to plan and carry out the murder of her parents in the interest of self-preservation and personal gain, before living within meters of the bodies of her two victims for a number of years."

Mr Kirby says the investigation uncovered "vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud".

"McCullough lied about almost every aspect of her life, maintaining a charade to deceive everyone close to her and clearly taking advantage of her parents’ good will," he says.

“She is an intelligent manipulator who chose to kill her parents callously, without a thought for them or those who continue to suffer as a result of their loss."

More from the McCullough family statement shared by Essex Police just now.

"Mum and Dad always enjoyed the time they spent with us, family was their pride and joy," they say.

Image source, Family handout

"Our family has been left devastated and heartbroken at the deaths of our parents who were taken from us so cruelly," the statement continues.

"As we try to move forward with our lives, we will remember the happy times we enjoyed with them.

"Our mum and dad are forever in our hearts and are loved and missed beyond any measure."

Image source, Lewis Adams/BBC

The McCullough family home on Pump Hill, in Great Baddow near Chelmsford, Essex, has been closed-off since the discovery of the bodies.

Today, the front door and windows are still covered in metal grilles to prevent entry.

The McCullough family have issued a statement, via Essex Police, following the sentencing.

"As we think of dad, we remember the numerous jokes he used to tell us and the laughs he gave us," they said.

"Our mum was kind, caring and thoughtful. Mum delighted in her grandchildren."

The family says John and Lois McCullough loved taking trips to the seaside together.

"Their love for the seaside was so great, they were hoping to move to the coast in their retirement years," they add.

McCullough has been sentenced and the court hearing is now over.

She was taken down by the security guards in the dock and is on her way to back to jail, having already been remanded in custody since her arrest.

The judge passed a lengthy sentence reflecting the severity of McCullough’s actions.

He praised Essex Police for its investigation and the courage of the rest of the McCullough family for their statements.

As for Virginia McCullough – she showed little emotion as she was asked to stand. All eyes were fixed on her in the centre of the glass-fronted dock in Chelmsford.

Flanked by two security guards, the couple's daughter stared blankly as Mr Justice Johnson handed down the sentence.

The judge clearly thought extensively as to her danger and said the fact the crimes were committed at the family home was a significant aggravating factor.

McCullough will be in her 70s by the time she could be considered by the parole board for release.

Virginia McCullough showed no emotion as she was told to stand for sentencing.

Mr Justice Johnson said having served some time on remand, she had 34 years and 341 days until she could be considered for release as part of the life sentence for murder.

Virginia McCullough has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 36 years before she can be considered for release on parole.