ITV’s latest drama, Till It Kills You, plunges viewers into the terrifying true story of London agency nurse Delia Balmer (Anna Maxwell-Martin).

Delia thought she had found a soulmate in John Sweeney (Shaun Evans), a carpenter and seemingly kindred spirit. The story unfolds after they met in a Camden pub in 1991.

On the surface, Delia appeared to have struck romantic gold with Liverpool-born Sweeney, who seemed like an attentive partner who showered her with flowers and affection. But as the series and his harrowing experiences reveal, beneath the surface was a man of unimaginable violence.

Drawing on Delia’s chilling memoir ‘Living With a Serial Killer’, published in 2017, she looks back on those days with regret for not seeing the warning signs, writing: “The subtle changes happened little by little. I should have known something was wrong but I’m so gentle and trusting.” , I’ve never come across anything like this before.”

The series captures Sweeney’s spiral of terror as he moves into Delia’s house and unleashes his temporary anger, then takes control in a way that is both abusive and frightening, causing her to live in constant fear for years.

Soon Delia was able to muster the strength to confront him and demand that he leave; This decision met with a terrible reaction. Despite Delia’s initial request to leave, Sweeney’s manipulation of her intensified, leading to a harrowing episode in the spring of 1994 when he held her captive.

Meanwhile, he tied her to the bed and threatened to cut out her tongue if she screamed. While holding Delia hostage, Sweeney admitted to murdering his former partner Melissa Halstead, whose dismembered body was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990.

In her book, Delia describes her haunting confession as follows: “We had a room in Amsterdam. I went in. There were two Germans with him. I killed them all. I didn’t know what to do with the corpses. I sat next to them. For three days I cut them up, put them in bags and threw them into the canal.”

Fearing that her life will be in danger, Delia is careful not to provoke Sweeney, who will eventually release her. He later reflected on the ordeal: “It was so fast and if I had tried anything I probably would have fallen apart.”

Tragically, Delia’s suffering at Sweeney’s hands did not end with her release; He continued to pursue and attack her, resulting in a brutal ax attack that seriously injured her.

According to reports, Sweeney cunningly eluded the police for years until his heinous actions caught up with him later in 2000 when he murdered Paula Fields. Mirror.

His remains were dumped in the Regent’s Canal in London. In 2001, Sweeney was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison for his attack on Delia. While Sweeney languished in Gartree Prison in Leicestershire for the attack, detectives investigated further links to Melissa and Paula.

Delia’s first-hand accounts, as well as advances in DNA evidence, allowed the law to capture the monster Sweeney and ensure he was imprisoned for good.

Following guilty verdicts for the murders of both victims, Sweeney was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 and is currently behind bars with no hope of release. It was also chillingly noted that Sweeney may have taken the lives of three more unnamed women between 1970 and 1990.

The convicted murderer remained scornfully in his cell at Belmarsh prison and his fate was sealed by Mr Justice Saunders. Saunders said: “These were horrific, vicious crimes. As the victims’ heads were removed, it is impossible to be certain how they were killed. The dismemberment of the bodies is a serious aggravating feature of the murders.”

Delia, who was closely involved in the production of Till I Kill You, talked about her experience working with writer Nick Stevens while shaping the draft of the script.

Speaking candidly to ITV ahead of the series’ launch, Delia said: “When I wrote my original story, I included every detail of what happened. As for the final attack on the doorstep, I re-edited it over and over again, wanting everything to read exactly as it happened.”

Explaining the importance of sharing the truth, he continued: “My concern has always been to get the truth out, by any means necessary. I remain an angry person. Sweeney was released on bail. The police gave me inadequate protection before his final attack. Then because of the system.” “I had to go to court to further traumatize me.”

Delia courageously rebuilt her life following the harrowing events, but admits the trauma remained and affected her mental health years later.

He said: “I often experience depression and anxiety, I’m afraid of life and the future, I’m a compulsive worrier. When I look in the mirror I see a stranger. Some physical pain, I’ll suffer for the rest of my life. I’m stuck. I can’t move on and I can’t go any further.”

“Fear keeps me from doing things. I live to travel, but it has also become almost my only escape from reality. Ballet classes have always been an important part of my life.”