‘The ropes came out and then he tied them to the bed, then he tied my ankles, grabbed my arms and held me down on the floor,’ she recalled.

‘I struggled at first and then I learned it was best not to struggle because he fixed it and if I struggled it would get harder.’

Sweeney then pulled out a knife and gun he had hidden next to the bed and began questioning her about her ex-boyfriends.

‘He threatened to cut my tongue if I scream,’ he said.

Sweeney later admitted killing his ex-girlfriend and two of his men a few years ago and ‘cutting up their bodies and throwing them in a canal’.

Viewers were stunned to hear the disturbing details; Some were also surprised that Delia decided to hide the furniture she was attacked with.

‘Wow…Delia still has all the furniture and the bed (and apparently the mattress) that that monster made. God! Nicola shared on X: “I would burn everything.”

“I’m surprised Delia still has all the furniture John made,” said user Flopsy.

‘I don’t understand why the real Delia Balmer would keep anything to do with John Sweeney – the table he made, the bed he tied her to, his drawings… I’d like to get rid of it altogether!’ DVDFever added.

Many people also praised her bravery in recounting her harrowing experience.

‘God, this is so sad. “Delia, you are a strong and brave woman and I’m so glad you found a happy future after this hell,” Charlotte wrote.

‘I’m watching you until I kill you: The True Story. It’s amazing what one person can handle. Jacky said I was sickened to see Delia reliving her hell.

“Delia Balmer is such a brave and resilient woman,” Laura added.

After spending a week being held hostage and repeatedly attacked, Delia was released by Sweeney.

However, his life was put at risk again when he attacked a second time after he was released on bail.

Rescued by a neighbor who hit Sweeney in the head with a baseball bat, Delia spent months in the hospital recovering from the horrific injuries she received during her escape.

As one officer recalled in the documentary, they discovered ‘a bag full of items he would need to dispose of Delia’s body’; these included knives, rubber gloves, rope, tarpaulins and duct tape.

He was arrested in 2001, six years after escaping in 1994, and sentenced to nine years in prison for the attempted murder of Delia.